LIONEL MESSI

Born on 24 June 1978, the Argentinian Lionel Messi is a player of FC Barcelona and the captain of Argentina National team. What makes him special is the fact that he was nominated for several Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year by the age of 21, and he succeeded to win in 2009 and 2010.More than that, his way of playing has drawn many comparisons to the famous player Diego Maradona. (http://en.wikipedia.org/)

Messi began to play soccer when he was 5 years old in a local club coached by his father. After that, Messi changed the club in 1995 and moved to Newell’s Old Boys which is a club in his city Rosario. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency at the age of 11. At this period, there was a club which showed interest in the progress of Messi, but after this event it stopped thinking about him because the club didn’t have the ability to treat him. After this sad event, Lionel Messi had an opportunity to change his life when he received “a contract written on a paper napkin”  (http://en.wikipedia.org/) from Fc Barcelona to move in Spain and enroll in the youth academy of this club .More than that ,Fc Barcelona proposed  him to pay for his medical treatment if he accept the offer. After that, Lionel Messi accepted the offer and moved to Spain with his father.(http://en.wikipedia.org/)

With his club Fc Barcelona, Lionel Messi became the best player in the world and won many trophies such as Spanish League, UEFA Champion’s League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and many others titles. More than that he succeeded to win many Individual Awards like Player of the year in Europe, Ballon d’Or , FIFA World Play, and others awards.( http://www.leomessi.com/eng/)

“Blessed with supreme talents on the pitch, Leo has also proven to be something of an angel off it”. (www.lionel-messi.co.uk/), he had always a mature behavior inside and outside the stadium. More than that, he was always interested in helping people, and he participated in the Family Association of Spinal Muscular Atrophy to help people suffering from this condition. More than that, Lionel Messi was always respected and beloved by people around him, and as his coach Pep Guardiola said: “We want him to stay with us because he’s the best and we wouldn’t swap him for anyone.” Not only his coach but Lionel Messi is appreciated by everyone to know what soccer means. (http://www.lionel-messi.co.uk/)

References :

1) “Lionel Messi”, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi  11/30/2011.Web.

2)”I AM LEO, MY CAREER”, http://www.leomessi.com/eng/ 11/30/2011.Web.

3)”QUOTES”, http://www.lionel-messi.co.uk/quotes/ 11/30/2011.Web.

4)”BIOGRAPHY”, http://www.lionel-messi.co.uk/biography/  11/30/2011 .Web.

                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                        

                                                                                              ZAKARIA ALIAT