LIONEL MESSI

This is the first ‘Story of a Legend’ that features a player who is still  playing in Europe and still  at  the height  of his powers. In spite of trying not to exalt a player midway through his career, so beyond doubt is his legendary status already that there is not really a good    or bad time to write a profile feature on the life and career of Lionel Messi. As the incomparable, complete playmaker forward hybrid that Messi is, there have already been countless features on his life on and off the pitch. The only thing is, it can’t really be overstated just how privileged we are to watch his journey unfold, and just how easy it is to take Messi for granted. We’ve had eras and glimpses of total football all over the globe at different points in time: 1960s and 70s Ajax and Holland, 1970s Brazil, Barcelona for the last decade. Bottle everything that these teams have possessed going forward – pace, power, elite technique, superior tactical knowledge and telepathic understanding of tempo, space, and positioning into one enigmatic freak of football, and you get Messi.

It is sometimes said that Messi would have struggled to break through as a senior professional had it not been for the medical treatment he underwent as a tiny 11-year-old to help battle his growth hormone deficiency. Born in Ro- sario, Argentina on 24 June 1987, Messi spent his childhood as a physically underdeveloped footballing phenom- enon, impressing so much at Newell’s Old Boys that he earned a move to Barcelona’s La Masia at the age of 11. But it’s hard not to think that even a physically stunted Messi who lacked the pace and power he currently possesses would still have made it at an elite level in world football. Instead of being the lethal penetrative dribbler, playmaker and finisher that he is now, Messi would still have been able to make use of his vision and passing ability to fit into a deeper playmaker role that has been occupied by the likes of the Xavi and Pirlo. Even as a tiny 10 year old, watching him play at La Masia, it’s clear that he already had the touch, the complete control.