Skill Learning Lessons From Lionel Messi and How His Career Almost Ended Before It Started

Skill Development Expert Profile — Lionel Messi

‘Unless you get this treatment, you will not grow another centimetre.’

11-year old Lionel was sitting at the doctor’s office in Rosario, Argentina. He had just been told that he has growth hormone deficiency. If he doesn’t get a costly treatment, he will barely grow at all.

Leo was already a talented footballer, but he was very short (140cm). If he didn’t continue to grow, he would be way too small to make it as a professional footballer.

His parents were factory workers and had no chance to pay for the expensive treatment, which cost 900$ a month. The insurance would only cover him for the next 12 months.

On top of that, Argentina was in an economic crisis, and neither his club Newell’s Old Boys or River Plate was willing to pay for the treatment. They thought the risk was too high, and they didn’t want to gamble on such a young player making it to the highest levels.

Lionel was shattered. He whole life was about football and his ultimate dream in life was to become a professional.

Growing up

As a kid, Lionel destroyed all the plants in his grandmothers garden. That’s where he learned to play with his older brothers and cousins. One day, his brother’s team was missing a player, Lionel’s grandmother Celia shouted from the sidelines that Leo wanted to play. The coach thought he was way too small, but they gave him a chance. They were astonished by what they saw. He dribbled past all the older kids, and with his quick feet and close control, there was no way to stop him. After that, he kept dominating the local leagues in Argentina.

The most significant influence in his early career was from his grandmother, who followed him to every practice and match when he was younger. She gave him the belief that he was special and that he could become a great footballer. Her death when Lionel was only 11 years old was a hard blow for him. He dedicates all his goals to her by kissing his shirt and looking up and pointing two index fingers to the sky.

Following the dream — Moving to Barcelona

At 13 years of age, Lionel was at an important crossroads in his life. His father had lost his job, and there was no way they could continue to pay for the treatment he needed to grow. No Argentinian clubs were willing to pay for the expense, and it looked like his professional career was in jeopardy.

But there was still a small hope. They had sent a video of Lionel to Barcelona, who were so impressed that they were willing to fly him over for a tryout at the club’s youth academy. Together with his father, Lionel travelled to Europe. This could be his only chance.

Lionel practised with the club for a couple of weeks. They were impressed by his ability, but there was a lot of doubt about bringing him in because of his lack of physique and height. Many of the board leaders didn’t want to take the risk, and it was also highly unusual to sign a foreign player of such a young age.

First team director Carles Rexach was so impressed however that he wanted to do anything he could to sign Messi. Worried that Barcelona wouldn’t sign him, he famously, in a dinner with Leo’s father, reached for a napkin and signed his first contract.

Things were still not easy for Lionel. He was shy and struggled to adjust to a new environment and new friends. In the first year, many of his teammates believed he was a mute, as he barely said anything. On top of this, he wasn’t allowed to play any matches due to a transfer argument with his old club in Argentina.

His mother and siblings also didn’t enjoy living abroad, and they decided to move back to Argentina. Lionel did not want to give up on his dream; however, so he stayed on with his father. Life was not easy, but it was his lifetime dream to become a professional.

Career

‘I’ve seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentinian football and his name is Messi.’ -Diego Maradona about an 18-year old Messi.

At 17 years of age, Messi got his debut for the Barcelona first team (the youngest player to play an official game for Barcelona at that time). And at 18 years of age, he signed a contract with a buyout clause of 150 million euros. Inter Milan offered to pay the price and triple his wages, but he decided to stay with Barcelona. According to then-president Joan Laporta, this was the only chance they were of losing him to another club, and he has since remained there his whole career.

He was still struggling with a lack of stamina and muscle mass, due to his growth hormone deficiency, but with the help of a personal trainer, he managed to improve his fitness so that he could play whole games rather than just coming on as a substitute. In 2004 he often wasn’t able to play more than 30 minutes per game.

In 2005 he got his first big success on the international stage with Argentina in the World Youth Championships. His fitness had improved, and he led Argentina to become world champions. Messi was awarded the golden ball as the best player of the tournament.

After this, Messi’s success has been continuous. He has won 34 titles with Barcelona, including ten La Liga Championships and four Champions League titles. He won the golden shoe six times (top scorer in all European leagues), and the ballon d’Or six times (best player in the world).

He has made 626 goals and 261 assists in 715 games for Barcelona (a record). 70 goals in 138 matches for Argentina (a record). He has been the top scorer in Champions league six times and in La Liga six times. He is also the record goalscorer in La Liga’s history and 2nd top scorer in the history of Champions League (after Cristiano Ronaldo). He has scored 54 hat-tricks in his career. The list of records goes on and on, and he keeps setting new ones regularly.

Leo’s style of play

‘Messi is the only player that runs faster with the ball than he does without it.’ -Pep Guardiola

Just give Messi the ball, and he will fix the rest. That’s what his teammates used to say when he was growing up.

Messi has developed into a prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker. He creates chances, scores goals and assists his teammates. His control of the ball is so close that it is almost impossible to take it from him without fouling. Often, even that isn’t enough, he jumps back up and keeps going.

Messi uses his former disadvantage of being short as an advantage. He is small (170cm), but that means he has a low centre of gravity and is very quick. He takes two steps for every one of his opponents, and he can change direction at any moment. When the ball is on the ground, the taller players, don’t have a chance.

‘Even though you know where he is going, he is so quick; you are not able to stop him. He gets past you when he wants; he is just playing with you.’ -Gerard Pique, who often man-marked him on Barcelona practice.

From being considered too small to even make it as a professional, Messi never gave up. He followed his dreams and is now one of the greatest players of all time.

Take home message

• Devote your life to something. For Lionel, life revolved around football, and he was willing to do anything to become a professional.
• Never give up. Messi kept working every day to improve, even when faced with the loss of close relatives, or when he was told that he probably wouldn’t grow much more.
• Take the chance when it presents itself. Messi decided to move to a new continent to follow his dream when he was only 13 years old.
• Sacrifice to achieve your dreams. Leo left his friends and family to live on a different continent to fulfil his dreams. From humble beginnings, football gave him fantastic opportunities in life.
• Work hard and keep improving. Messi was always humble and has kept working hard to improve throughout his career.

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