Interesting Facts about Lionel Messi

Here are some of Interesting Facts about Lionel Messi:

Full name: Lionel Andres Messi 
Date of Birth: 24 June 1987 
Birth place: Rosario (Argentina) 
Height: 5'6 and a half" (1.69 metres) 
Club: FC Barcelona 
National team: Argentina 
Shirt number: 19 
Position: Attacking midfielder (right/centre) 

Lionel Messi is the heir apparent to the throne left vacant by Diego Armando Maradona. The waters are divided between those who consider him to be far from being close to "The 10", and those who believe that Messi will be even better than Maradona. 

Born in Rosario on June 24th, 1987, he cut his teeth in the youth ranks of Newell's Old Boys, until a hormonal problem that affected his growth changed the plans of his family and, of course, his personal future. 

Facing the need of an expensive treatment for his son, Messi's parents moved to Spain, since Newell's was not able to afford the medical costs related to his condition, and even the wealthiest Argentine teams, such as River Plate, refused to foot the bill. 

After his first try with the Catalonian soccer team, the trainers didn't have any doubts: They decided to sign Messi and pay for his medical treatment. His growth was noticeable within Barca, and in little time he came to be considered one of the great talents at the club. 

He made his debut in the first division on October 16th, 2004, against Espanyol, and Barcelona has since adopted him as one of its greatest idols. 

His first championship would come in the Liga season of 2004-2005. Since then, and playing in every season a more prominent role, he has won two more Liga titles and two UEFA Champions League titles, and won other tournaments like the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España and the European Super Cup. 

With the Argentine national team he participated in the 2006 World Cup, but wasn't a sure starter. He also won the U-20 World Cup in 2005 and the Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2008. 

Strengths: His ball skills are second to none. His short spring and his runs from midfield are usually lethal. 

Weaknesses: Way too often, he looks for a way to finish plays by himself without looking for teammates in a better position to shoot at goal. 

Career high: In the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey 2007, against Getafe, he scored one of the most beautiful goals in footbal history, a play that started in midfield and ended in the box of the rival area. The goal was very similar to the second goal scored by Maradona against England at the '86 World Cup. 

Career low: He was unable to display his best level of play in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where Argentina were eliminated in the quarterfinals, with Messi looking on from the bench. 

Style: Outstanding ball control at speed that is just about unmatched in world football. 

Quotes: "Messi is my Maradona," said Maradona himself, as the head coach of the Argentine national team. 

Trivia: His debut with the national team (against Hungary) was completely forgettable: he entered the game in the 18th minute of the second half, and 47 seconds later was sent off. 

Soccernet says: Messi is the undisputed idol of Barcelona. His great challenge will be to earn the respect of the Argentine fans with a great showing at the World Cup. A good performance with the national team is still a debt he owes to the fans. To do that, he will have to forget about the shadow of Maradona. He needs to be Messi. 

4 Unknown Facts You Might Not Like About Messi

He Is Selfish When He Has the Ball

Hard to say a player with 28 assists in a season is selfish.

But Lio is. 

By comparison, we all think Cristiano is selfish and has 14 assists on his own. 

However, when you see him play you get the feeling that because he knows he's that good (which he evidently is) he prefers to finish the play himself instead of playing the ball to better positioned teammates.

If he was a little less selfish, maybe he could make his assisting record even better.

Which, when you think about it, sounds pretty scary. 

He Takes Plays Off

Messi is the only player in Barcelona allowed to walk and to stay away from the offensive pressing that Barça does so effectively. 

If you look for it, it's evident in every match.

But if you want even more proof, you might want to look at UEFA's Distance Covered stat they publish every match. It is here Messi's poor effort is displayed.

The average Barça player runs about 9-10 km per match (Xavi and Alves run more than 12 every match).

How much would you expect Messi to run?

Well, he runs in between 6 and 7 kilometers per match, which is half what Xavi runs, and is also way below average against his other teammates. 

He just doesn't play hard every minute of the game. 

Probably because knows he's so good, he doesn't 

He Wants to Play Every Game

When I say every, I mean EVERY.

That initially sounds very good. It sort of speaks of competitiveness and a desire to win. 

However, beneath the superficial analysis lies another layer to this: the fact he takes minutes off and sometimes seems tired (because he is). 

But also, the very baby-like "angry and moody" attitude he displays when he doesn't play. Even if he's benched because coaches know he's tired. Even if there's nothing to play for. He just doesn't like it when he's on the bench.

This coming from a player that had serious injuries his first seasons because of pushing himself too hard. 

And because Messi is Messi, Guardiola lets him act like a spoiled brat and supersede the decisions of team coaches. 

It's basically a miracle that between opponents kicking him and him playing all those matches, we haven't seen him with a serious injury for quite a while. 

For now, at least. 

He Is Jealous in the Locker Room

You'll never hear this from any sort of official source of course, but the fact is: Messi wants to be a star.

The only star.

Let's see what happens when a player on the Barça locker room wants to be treated on the same level (both salary-wise and importance) as Lio:

Samuel Eto'o...gone.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic...gone.

“No Feelings” Guardiola says.

Come to think about it, when picking Messi against either of the former two, Pep didn't have a tough decision at all. 

But the fact is he made one, and both players (world-class ones) were cut due to oblivious reasons. 

David Villa, on the other hand, seems to have accepted who is the top dog. 

Messi wouldn't have it any other way. 

So much for "Messi is such a nice guy," then. 

Source: Barcelona Reporters & 11*2