Lionel Messi is a professional football player for the FC Barcelona club and the Argentinean national football team.  Considered to be one of the greatest football players of all time, Messi has already achieved so much success for both his professional and national teams.  The following are some of the highlights of Messi’s life and career:

Fact 1:  Messi’s hormone problem was his ticket to the FC Barcelona club.  Back when Lionel Messi was still 11, he was diagnosed to have growth hormone deficiency which required monthly medical expenses.  The FC Barcelona team accepted him for training with the club with the condition of moving from Argentina to Barcelona which the family agreed to.

Fact 2:  River Plate, an Argentinean club lost out on the would-be football superstar Lionel Messi.  They were supposedly interested to get Messi as a young boy but they weren’t willing to pay for the medical expenses of the kid at the time.

Fact 3:  Messi played in the Barcelona senior team when he was only 17.  His skills in football were already evident when he was still a kid and his training with the club helped him become a senior player at the young age of 17.

Fact 4:  In his first season at FC Barcelona, Lionel Messi already made a good impression by scoring a goal for the team.  At the time, Messi is considered the youngest to achieve such a feat.

Fact 5:  As a teenager, Lionel Messi already won the Golden Boot award for scoring and Golden Ball award for being the best player for the Argentinean under-20 national team.

Fact 6:  Lionel Messi is often referred to as “the new Maradona”.  Diego Maradona is a popular and legendary player of Argentinean football.  With Messi’s prolific scoring and skills, Messi is considered one of Argentina’s greatest.

Fact 7: In 2006, Lionel Messi became the youngest Argentinean to join the World Cup team.  His skills in scoring and dribbling made him break records and get chosen to be part of the national team.

Fact 8:  In 2012, Lionel Messi achieved another record under his belt.  This time, he scored the most professional goals in a single year at 89.  This is recognized even by the Guinness Book of World Records and Messi beat out other greats like Pele of Germany and Gerd Muller of Germany.

Fact 9:  Lionel Messi ignored offers to play in Russian and English clubs.  Despite higher salary offers, Messi opted to stay with the FC Barcelona club even up to today.

Fact 10:  Messi won a record 4 FIFA world player of the year awards.  Other great players in football only won once or twice, but Messi holds the distinction of getting this award 4 times which is a world record.

 Fact 11:  Lionel Messi is an ambassador for the UNICEF.  Being a celebrity and highly-successful football player basically did not stop Messi from promoting charitable work and helping other people.

Fact 12:  Messi is still looking for his first World Cup win with the Argentina team.  In 3 World Cup appearances, Messi’s Argentinean team only managed to reach the finals once in 2014 and the quarterfinals twice in 2006 and 2010.