“HE’S so small,” said the youngsters. “Be careful with him, he’s very small, don’t break him,” cautioned an adult in their midst inside the dressing room of one of Europe’s renown footballing brands’ premises.
“How can we be careful? We can’t even get close to him!” one of the youngster, a central defender who happened to be the gangliest in the group of burgeoning academy soccer players retorted – to everyone’s amusement. “He’s so fast, and so slight that you could injure him,” came the adamant response from the elder.
The small one the subject of discussion, stood a mere 1.47-metre-tall (unusually slight of built in comparison to the other youngsters who were of his age group born in 1987). What more, he didn’t understand their language, and they found his daily habit of administering unto himself, a mere 13- year old kid, a syringe dosage of hormones meant to augment his growth – strange!
“Where are you from? Where do you play?” the kids, mostly Spaniards, further probed of the fragile stranger – an Argentinian, thousands of miles away from home!
The scene hallmarked of juvenile curiosity ensued on one of the soccer fields of FC Barcelona in the early 2000s and is depicted with such imagination in, MESSI: The Definitive Biography – a whopping 755-page paperback tome by renowned award-winning football author, Guillem Balague.
Initially launched in 2013, the latest iteration has been updated to include Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup triumph.
The stunted teenager had abruptly been invited – in the midst of his schooling year in his country – along with his family, to Spain by the Catalan club’s representatives, in order for them to access first hand whether he was indeed the heir to his countryman, Diego Maradona, as many then deemed him to be!
Having grown up a fan of his neighbourhood’s soccer outfit, Newell’s Old Boys (which Maradona once played for) the youngster was set for a professional career with the club until his family resolved – upon NOB’s reluctance – to place him with a club which would cover the costs of his much needed hormonal injections.
A situation which led to his arrival at FC Barcelona – where, despite having seen a video showing him demonstrating his exceptional talent, officials dilly-dallied in eventually offering him a contract which would ultimately open the pathway to his fulfilling his destiny as the greatest player ever in both the club’s and world football’s annals!
Initially entered into birth records as Lionel, a fleeting row between his parents resulted in the name Leo, as a compromise, sticking, universally!
Nicknamed ‘El Pulga’ (the flea), he hails from Rosario, a city, some 300 kilometres from the capital Buenos Aires, described as a conveyor belt of Argentinian footballers (his homeboys include, Angel Di Maria, Giovani Lo Celso, Ever Banega, Javier Mascherano, etc.) in an area named La Bajada where his parents raised him and three siblings in a modest two-bedroomed house.
In this neighbourhood, standout memories comprise of the Argentine and Italian dishes such as chorizo sausages, ravioli, spaghetti and beef ‘milanesa’ dishes his mom Celia prepared like nobody else; reminiscence of childhood dalliances with cute 5-year-old Antonella Roccuzzo (now his wife) who back then paid scant interest in him until, whilst on a trip back home for the holidays from Barcelona, their romance was rekindled; his beloved grandmother Celia urging a coach of a local club to include a 5-year-old him in a 7-a-side soccer game, et cetera.
Although Leo, Lionel Messi that is, reflected in hindsight that, “we wanted for nothing” whilst growing up in a household maintained by factory worker parents – his hormonal treatment went beyond their salaries, thus forcing them, like other Argentine parents blessed with exceptional soccer playing boy children in their families, to seek economic prospects in Europe. In fact, the Messi’s trip to Spain occurred within a backdrop whereby their country’s economic situation created breadwinners of mostly young footballers able enough to secure professional contract both locally and overseas.
Upon FC Barcelona agreeing to a contract (600 000 Euros per year including costs of his hormonal treatment and other appertaining perks) for the 14-year young Messi on January 8, 2001, so grateful was his dad, Jorge that himself and a friend embarked on a 75 kilometres walk to give thanks at the Shrine of the Virgin of St Nicolas. Lasting all of 14 hours, Balague mentions that a barefooted Leo joined them for the last 800 metres of the journey!
Planet football was about to be exposed to arguably its greatest ever player!
It was at FC Barcelona’s La Masia Academy that the youngsters cringed at the newcomer’s stature and some of whom would morph into household names worldwide – names such as Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique.
Known as the ‘Class of ‘87’ owing to their birth year, together with Leo, they would become the most successful cadets in the club’s history and grow to achieve even more as senior players (the trio are FIFA World Cup winners, inter alia).
A chapter deep in the comprehensive read titled, ‘Dealing with Maradona’, sheds fascinating inside view of the ambivalent relationship between Messi and Argentina’s long-time idol, Diego Maradona.
Having identified Messi as his heir as a soccer deity, El Pibe de Oro (the golden boy, as Maradona was referred to ) would veer from specifically seeking him out in a dressing room pending a World Cup tourney and exhort, “have strength, courage and score a goal!” to “sometimes, Messi plays for Messi.” “It is FC Messi,” after the Argentine football team had played to a drawn in an international match.
The narrative delves into tax evasion sagas; how top strikers were dispensed with at Barcelona for Messi’s sake; the Qatar FIFA World Cup triumph of 2022; the transfers to Paris-Saint Germain and Inter Miami, etc.
It is an experience of a great counted alongside Pele, Maradona, Di Stefano, Cruyff and Best.
Messi – The Definitive Biography, is published by Orion Books and distributed across South Africa through Jonathan Ball Publishers.
It is available at reputable bookstores countrywide.
