Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi was born on June 24th 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. He is the son of Mr Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner. His family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, where his grandfather, Angelo Messi, immigrated to Argentina in 1883. Lionel has two older brothers: Rodrigo and Matías and a sister; her name is Maria Sol. At the age of five, Lionel started playing football for Grandoli, a football club in Argentina. His father, Jorge, was the coach of that club. He has two cousins in football: Maxi and Emanuel Biancucchi; they are good footballers too.

At the age of 11, Lionel suffered from a growth hormone deficiency. Primera Division club River Plate showed interest in Lionel's progress but did not have enough money to pay for his treatment, as it cost $900 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of F.C.B was really aware of his talent as Lionel had relatives in Leida, Catalonia, and Lionel and his father were able to arrange a trial. Barcelona signed him after watching his skills in football, offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. His family moved to Europe and he started in the F.C.B club's youth team. Now, Lionel is the most famous youngest footballer in the world winning four Golden balls.