October 14, 2004, does not seem like a passing date for fans of the Spanish club Barcelona and fans of Argentine football legend Lionel Messi, but it is a milestone in the career of one of the best players in the history of the round witch and the most famous of them ever in the last decade.
It may be difficult to choose an event in Messi's career as a starting point for telling his strange and exciting story with football, but that date (October 14, 2004) witnessed the 17-year-old's first appearance in the Barcelona shirt, in front of Espanyol within the league The Spaniard, and from him, launched an inspiring football journey for millions of children and youth, and a beautiful story of the player who gave football an additional flavor of beauty, charm and excitement.
While waiting for his participation in the Qatar World Cup 2022, which many observers believe will be the last major competition in Messi’s career with the Tango team, the Argentines aspire to write “Bulga” history in the World Cup, and lead the country to win the title it has been looking for since the World Cup in Mexico 1986. When another legend, the late Diego Maradona, secured the place of the Land of the Smiling Sun on the global podium.
Exciting story and sad phases
The career of Lionel Andres Messi - the owner of individual achievements and many collective titles with football - was only a difficult and complex journey in its beginnings, and before he became one of the best football players in history, the Argentine child was born in the Argentine city of Rosario on June 24, 1987 , to parents: Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory worker, and Celia Maria Cuccittini, a cleaner;
Since his childhood, he suffers from atrophy in his body and complains of delayed growth.
Meanwhile, although his physique was much less than his peers, Messi joined at the age of 7 years to the Argentine Newell’s Old Boys Academy, and showed remarkable technical skills since his early years in football, before the effects of his growth retardation began to appear when a doctor decided - Diego Schwarzstein - is open to Messi's father about his illness, and advises him to subject him to a growth hormone injection, which at that time (1997) cost about $1,000 per month, which the low-income family could not afford.
"Lionel was a little talkative in and out of the house, but when he was playing the ball it was as if he was playing and singing, his feet were surprisingly taming the ball, but the delay in growth threatened his continuation, unless treatment continued periodically."
In such terms, Messi's father spoke of the wonderful and sad beginnings at the same time, adding that one of the business agents - Horacio Gaggioli - offered the family the idea of traveling to Barcelona to consider the possibility of enrolling the child prodigy in the club's academy.
In 2000, 13-year-old Lionel Messi went with his parents to Barcelona, accompanied by the idea's architect, Gagioli, but everyone knew that the problem of "growth hormone disorder" might push the Catalan team to reluctance to accept Messi.
The Messi family’s concerns were in order, as Barcelona Academy official at the time, Carles Rexach, expressed his reluctance to accept a young child complaining of atrophy in his muscles, and Messi’s first agent Gaggioli said in previous media statements, “The positions were divided between supporters and opponents in FC Barcelona about Messi; some saw that His super talent is something that cannot be wasted, while others saw the Argentine boy’s deal as a risk that is not guaranteed results. The football was preparing for an imaginary journey and an inspiring story.”
On December 14, 2000, Messi's father signed documents for his son's enrollment in the "La Masia" academy, and at that time there were players who later turned into stars in the Blaugrana, such as Gerard Pique, Carles Peul and Cesc Fabregas, and helped him integrate, while the Barca administration took care of his treatment. And pay for the injections of growth hormones.
According to what was reported by media sources, the only problem that Messi faced was the language, but on the green rectangle, he showed from the beginning a talent that was said to be available in anyone else within the club, which included the Argentine boy in his youth groups for 4 years, before his rise to the first team in Summer 2004, at the age of 17 years and a few months.
One final peek before the 17th anniversary of #Messi's unofficial debut expires.
pic.twitter.com/OeYYlUl8Yx
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 16, 2020
35 titles and 7 golden balls
Messi overcame the psychological remnants of his difficult beginnings, and in February 2004 he spent his first professional contract of 6 years, and his career officially began with the first team of Barcelona in the 2004-2005 season, under the leadership of the Dutchman Frank Rijkaard, who gave him the opportunity in October 2004 to write The first letter from the book of a legendary career, when he entered the substitute for Portuguese Deco in the 82nd minute of the match that brought Barca against his neighbor Espanyol at the "Louis Compagnie" stadium in Barcelona.
In his beginnings, Messi was carrying the number 30, and he was surrounded by many stars, led by the Brazilian Ronaldinho, who was carrying the number 10 shirt at the time, and who gave Messi on May 1, 2005 a crucial pass in a match against Albacete, thanks to which he scored the first goal in colors Barcelona when he entered as a substitute for Samuel Eto'o.
That year also saw the 18-year-old crowned the World Youth Championship (Netherlands 2005) with Argentina, after winning the final over Nigeria (2-1) and winning the same competition as the best player award.
In 2005, Messi won the first title in his career with the Argentine national team and won the World Youth Cup in the Netherlands, during which he won the award for best player (Reuters)
And between 2004 and 2021, Messi fought the bulk of his career in the colors of the Catalan team, and all the stadiums of Spain clubs and the stadiums of Europe were witness to unlimited creativity and a remarkable footballing miracle. The League, the Cup, the Spanish Super, and the European Champions League after winning the final over Manchester United (2-0) and the European Super, before concluding the hexagonal with the Club World Cup title in late 2009.
Messi's career with Barca was full of titles;
After the 2009 Champions League, he repeated the same achievement in 2015 after defeating Juventus in the final, while his goal against Bayern Munich in the semi-finals is still one of the most beautiful goals in the history of the competition.
But the failure accompanied him on more than one occasion to add a third coronation in the European competition, to become that title as the knot of Messi and Barca alike between 2016 and 2021.
Messi crowned him with the Ballon d'Or award in 2021 for the seventh time in his career as the most player in the world to achieve that achievement (Getty Images)
In contrast, the Argentine dominated the length and breadth of individual awards and titles, and besides being the most decorated player with Barcelona with 35 titles, ahead of his former colleague Andres Iniesta, Messi won the Golden Ball for the best player in the world on 7 occasions: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019 And 2021, and he also broke many records, which reached 125 records, according to media reports.
In 2012, Messi became the first player in football history to score more than 90 goals in one year, breaking the previous record held by German Gerd Muller with 85 goals in 1972.
On May 16, 2021, the "Camp Nou" stadium closed its curtain on Messi's long career in Barcelona's colors when he played his last match, during which he scored the last goal in his football career with Barca, against Celta Vigo, ending a journey that football experts consider one of the The most wonderful stories of the round witch, including the suffering of the beginnings, the coronation periods and the moments of disappointment that also accompanied Messi in his Catalan journey.
Paris era and first title with Tango
After the end of the 2020-2021 season, Barcelona announced that it would not extend Messi's contract, and in the meantime, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United clubs entered the line to sign him, before the management of the Parisian team succeeded in winning his signature on August 5, 2021, before the On the 29th of the same month, a new station in the colors of “PSG” will officially start, crowned in 2022 with the first French Premier League title and the Champions Cup (Super Cup).
Messi has played with Paris Saint-Germain so far 50 games and scored 21 goals since his move to the club in August 2021 (Anatolia)
In July 2021, Lionel Messi won his first title with the Argentine national team after a long wait, when he crowned the "Copa America" after winning the final against Brazil (1-0) after he had reached the final of the competition in 2007, 2015 and 2016.
In 2022, he was crowned with the Tango team in the Champions Cup, which brought together the Copa America champion and the European champion after defeating Italy by three goals.
The player - who is nicknamed the Bolga - played 164 games in the Argentina shirt, during which he scored 90 goals, a number unique to him in his country's team, knowing that he was crowned with the 2005 World Youth Cup, and the gold medal for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.