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Messi; The Man

CHILDHOOD

As a child, I always had a ball nearby. I liked every sport, but football was the one I liked the most. At home, everybody was crazy about football: my brothers, my cousins... everyone. We all played football — it was the most important thing in our lives. At the age of four, after playing for my neighborhood’s team, I decided to go to Grandoli Club¹ which was nearby. At the age of eight, I got the opportunity to join Newell’s Old Boys² as my brother, Rodrigo, was already playing for them and invited me to play at their lower youth division.

We did not live in Argentina for very long. I left when I was 13, way before I started playing for Barcelona, a team which I had been following for a long time. I had huge expectations and was very excited to play for them since it seemed impossible.

I had a growth problem⁴ and was used to being the shortest player on the field, but I knew that I would eventually grow — albeit, it would be a slow process. Consequently, I had to administer a daily injection on my legs as part of the treatment process. At the beginning it was painful, but sometimes certain things must be endured in order to achieve your dreams.

BARCELONA

When I arrived in Barcelona, my dream was to play in the first team, but I never could’ve imagined what would happen next! We visited the city like tourists — Barça’s stadium is beautiful, and I still remember the emotion I felt the first time I stepped foot onto the Camp Nou.

As soon as I arrived in Barcelona, I started training. I didn’t sleep at La Masía⁵ , but I went to León XIII (an elementary school), where all the kids from other cities where studying at. I spent every afternoon with those kids, many of them from Barcelona and the rest from other Spanish provinces, like Iniesta. They also knew what it was like to be far away from their families and friends, so we had a lot of things in common. I had a hard time during the first two seasons. I couldn’t play for months because my immigration paperwork had not cleared and I got injured in my very first match.

The real change occurred at the cadet category⁶ , as we had a great team and the good fortune of winning everything. We had Gerard Piqué, Cesc Fábregas, Víctor Vázquez and didn’t concede a single match. Today, after so many years, I understand the Barcelona philosophy which made me stronger as a football player and as a person.

When I was sixteen, I got called up and was informed that I would become a professional player — I was so excited! I was going to be part of the first team! My first minutes at Barcelona transpired in a match against Porto⁷and my father was told that I might travel with the team; I didn’t tell anyone and my family found out while watching the news. That day, my dream had come true.

⁵ La Masia de Can Planes, also known as La Masía, is Barcelona’s youth academy.
⁶ “Cadete A”: one of Barcelona’s youth divisions.
⁷ Futebol Clube do Porto: a football club based out of Portugal.