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Showing posts with label blog on messi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog on messi. Show all posts

Friday, September 9, 2011

Messi.... Messi...Messi-New Maradona creates magic in Kolkata

Considered the best football player of his generation and one of the best players of all-time, Luis Lionel Andres Messi is an illustrious player of Argentina national football (soccer) team and now plays for FC Barcelona as a striker or winger. At the age of 21 he was nominated as FIFA World Player of the Year and won the award in 2009 and 2010. His playing style and ability is often compared with that of Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his “successor”.

Messi was born in June 24, 1984 in Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina. His father Jorge Horacio Messi worked as a factory steel worker and mother Celia Maria Cuccittini was a part – time cleaner. He has two older brothers, Rodrigo and Matias and a sister named Maria Sol. His paternal family originates from Italian city of Ancona.

                                       picture source: Vir Vkram Singh (picasa)
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Lionel Messi's experience with football started at the age of 5. He joined the training sessions of the club Grandoli. It was a local club where his father was coaching at that time. Little Messi was very much close to his father and they both knew that this club would not be one to offer the boy a future as a soccer player. So his father decided to switch over to Newell’s Old Boys in 1995 when Messi was just 8 years old. It is one of the most prestigious youth academies in Argentina.

Three years after this Messi ran into trouble with his health as he was detected with growth hormone deficiency. He was considered a huge future talent by then and this came as a bolt from the blue. Fortunately, FC Barcelona came to Messi’s life as an Angel and put him in the right track. They learned of his problem and decided to help him out. Messi soon signed with Barcelona’s youth team and moved to Spain for his treatment.

In 2003-2004, at the age of 16, Messi made his first team debut in a friendly match with Porto. It marked the opening of the new Dragao stadium. Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004 in the following championship-winning season in Barcelona’s derby win against Espanyol at Olympic stadium (0-1). On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for Barcelona against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old. With several frontline team players seriously injured, the service of reserve team players was called upon and Messi became a regular feature of Barca squads.

He was offered the chance to play for the Spanish national football team. However, he declined the offer to represent his own nation. In June 2004 he got the opportunity to play for Argentina. He played in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay. In June 2005 he played for Argentina under-20 team that won the Football World Youth Championship played in Netherland. In this championship Messi flourished as a player and got the golden Boot as top scorer with 6 goals and the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament.

He made his full international début on 17th August 2005 against Hungry at the age of 18. On 28 March 2009 , in a World Cup Qualifier against Venezuela, Messi wore the number 10 jersey for the first time for Argentina. 

On September 25, 2005 Messi acquired a Spanish citizenship and was able to make his début in the season’s Spanish first division. Messi’s first outing in the UEFA Champions League at the Nou Camp was on Sept 28 against Italian club Udinese. He had a great telepathic relationship with Ronaldinho. It earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000 strong spectators. The Italian newspaper Tuttospart awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe, over Wayne Rooney and Lukas Podolski.

Messi was at one stage romantically linked to Macarena Lemos. He was also linked to the Argentina glamour model Luciana Salazar and was spotted with the girl, Antonella Roccuzzo at a carnival in sitges after the Barcelona-Espanyol derby. In 2007 Messi established the Leo Messi Foundation, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children. On 11 march 2010 Messi was announced as a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF. He appears on the front covers of the video games Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 and ProEvolution Soccer 2011 and takes active interest in promotional campaigns for the games.

Recently Messi mania gripped Kolkata. The FIFA friendly match between Argentina and Venezuela at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan had Messi as the star attraction. The day went into the pages of history as Kolkata and India witnessed the magician in action.

However, despite all his achievements critics point out that he does not deliver his 100% while playing for his country. He is essentially the committed football player of Barcelona Club. 

About the Author

Priya Panda is student of Journalism and Mass Communication at Muralidhar Girl's College, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and they do not reflect in any way those of the Dispassionate Observer.

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