The great flea
January 10, 2012
They call him "La Pulga" (the flea) but, while he may be relatively short at 1.69 meters, Lionel Messi is a big name in soccer.
This year, the Barcelona master dribbler was named World Player at a FIFA gala in Zurich for the third consecutive year. The Argentine's fellow nominees were Barcelona club teammate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.
The son of a steelworker, Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1987. Messi joined the local soccer club when he was five years old and was soon recognized as an unusually talented player. The only problem was his height. Due to a hormone deficiency, young Lionel suffered from impaired growth.
No club in Argentina was prepared to pay for his medical treatment, so Messi's father decided to move the family to Spain. In 2000, the 13-year-old Lionel Messi - who was only 1.43 meters (4 feet, 8 inches) tall - had trials for FC Barcelona. "I signed him within half-a-minute," said former Barcelona manager Carles Rexach. That first contract was scrawled on a napkin and the club agreed to pay Messi's medical bills.
Maradona comparisons
In October 2004, at 17 years of age, Messi gave his debut in the Spanish League. The following season, Barcelona gave him a permanent position. In September 2005, Messi became a Spanish citizen - and competition regulations for non-EU foreigners stopped applying to him. More often than not, it is Messi who decides the outcome of a match for of his club, scoring some of the most exceptional goals.
Against Madrid side FC Getafe, he produced a carbon copy of the 60-meter solo effort by compatriot Diego Maradona in the 1986 World Cup quarter final. That original goal, which made the score 2-0, put Argentina through to the semifinals and was later selected as the World Cup Goal of the Century. The comparison with Maradona is something that the modest 24-year-old has had to endure more frequently than he would perhaps like. "I want to avoid comparisons, because for me there has never been anyone quite like him," said Messi, referring to his hero.
"I have to improve," Messi has said. "I want to be a player who can do everything." It is an ambition that, with his exceptional talent, he arguably fulfilled a long time ago.
Phenomenal transfer fee
Messi's contract with Barcelona was last extended in September 2009 and continues until 2016. It provides for a salary of 12.5 million euros ($16 million) per year, with his transfer fee set at 250 million euros. It's his sixth salary increase with Barcelona in less than five years.
In response to rumors of any possible transfer to another club, the superstar has regularly responded with the words "Barcelona is my home." He is such a renowned figure within La Liga that one Spanish sports reporter was quoted as saying: "We should give football a new name. We should name it after Messi."
Indeed, no other player in the world seems to dominate the beautiful game in quite the same way as he does.
Messi has won the Spanish league with Barcelona five times, most recently in 2011. In addition, he has won the Spanish Cup once with the club, the Champions League three times, and both the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup twice. He is the first and only player so far to have been top scorer in the Champions League for three seasons in a row.
In addition to the breathtaking array of achievements for his club, Messi has received many personal honors, such as being named FIFA World Player three times. In 2011, he was also named "Best Player in Europe," as the first holder of the new title.
National disappointments
While Messi may have won almost all there is to win in club football with Barcelona, things are somewhat different when it comes to the national team. A whole nation is still waiting for the big breakthrough of its great prodigy and, as a player with the national side, Messi is not so popular. Too often, it seems, he has fallen short of expectations while wearing the light blue and white jersey of his homeland. His personal history also means that many in Argentina consider him to be half-Spanish.
Messi was part of the national squad as early as the World Cup in Germany in 2006, although he only played in three games in the tournament. During a penalty shootout against the German national side in Berlin, in the quarterfinals, he remained on the bench as Argentina exited the competition.
He was goalless in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when Argentina also went out at the quarterfinal stage. Things were no different in the Copa America in 2011 when, again, he failed to live up to expectations. Messi was again unable to score during the tournament, in which the team once again failed to reach the semifinals, this time losing out to Uruguay.
It seems that even such a rare talent as Messi is only as good as his teammates allow him to be. And indeed, those teammates are considerably better with his club than with his country.
Club coach among the winners
The World Player award was announced at a glamorous gala in the Kongresshaus in Zurich.
The award for women's football went to the captain of Japan's 2011 Women's World Cup winning team, Homare Sawa. The 33-year-old is the first-ever Asian winner of a World Player award.
The two coaches' awards went to Japan's Norio Sasaki, manager of the Japanese women's side, while Barcelona's Pep Guardialo took the award for best men's coach of the year.
Author: Calle Kops / db, rc
Editor: Andy Valvur