Lionel Messi is a like a Playstation
player who has the metallic taste of
Diet Coke. Mixing expressions of
Arsene Wenger and writer Fabian
Casas, we get the image that the
general public has of the best player
of the moment.
Indeed, one of the most spectacular
players of all time is known to have a
rather depressing and bland
personality. This article will change the
way you see him…
Here are 10 facts about Messi you’ve
probably never heard before:
1.He used to stuff his face with
pastries and Milanese escalopes
When Messi was a child, a coach had
found the right method for him to
surpass himself constantly: he promised
him a “alfajor” the full Argentine
pastry sugar for every goal scored. Leo
scored 5 or 6 then had swallowed his
due.
The four Golden Ball has always loved
food. His favorite dish: escalope
Milanese. His mother was cooking them
two or three times a week during his stay
in Catalonia.
When Josep Guardiola was appointed
coach of Barca, he quickly realized that
his gluttony was problematic. The press
began to call Messi “the star of
porcelain” because of his recurring
injuries, partly due to his unhealthy
lifestyle.
Guardiola decided to remove the Coca-
Cola vending machine from the training
center , which Messi used and abused,
and he appointed a physiotherapist,
Juanjau Brau who taught him to “not
run away when he saw a salad.”
“La Pulga” began to eat vegetables and
stopped to spend the night watching the
Argentine championship matches. And
injuries have become more rare. To
complete the job, Messi got engaged with
a childhood friend who was studying to
become a nutritionist, Antonella
Rocuzzo.
Messi and antonella roccuzzo, his fiance
who is also a nutritionist.
2. He did not manage to finish the
autobiography of Maradona
Messi said his favorite book was “El
Martin Fierro.” It is a well-known book
in Argentina, somewhat equivalent to the
“Little Prince” in France. The book is
laminated manual for school and talked
about when you’re stuck with nothing to
say. The success providing him
assurance, the Barcelona star now
assumes that he never reads and he is
not even able to overcome Maradona’s
autobiography.
His cultural universe is a wasteland. He
stopped watching the series “Lost” and
“Prison Break” because the story was too
complex for him. At most a few films,
such as “Cuidado, bebe suelto” or “El hijo
de la novia” as the heroine reminds him
of his grandmother (discussed).
Outside his sport, his passions revolve
around the PlayStation – he excels at
football simulations – and Disneyland,
where he likes to walk.
Alexandre Julliard, co-author of “The
Mystery Messi” says:
“Like many working-class children in
Argentina, there is no room for anything
other than family, friends and football.
That’s what built him. ”
Away from the football field, Messi is
really bored. He has long slept 12 hours
a day to kill time and his brother
Rodrigo talks about the first years in
Barcelona as a sad routine: nap,
Playstation and family.
However, Messi is not a stupid boy. All
those who know him say he is quick to
pick up things, quite smart actually. He
is of a humble type and also very polite.
The footballer Pedro Zabaleta, his
friend from youth teams, said outright
that he is “a better human being than a
footballer.”
3. He is socially inadequate
During his youth, Messi was so shy that
people sometimes thought he was mute or
autistic. Journalist at El Pais, Roman
Besa tells a story that illustrates his
inability to communicate:
“One day, Lionel entered the field with a
plastic spoon in his mouth. He did not let
go until the end of the session. It was a
way to show that he was upset. For what
reason? Nobody knew and nobody has
ever tried to find out. ”
His teachers advised parents to take him
to see a psychologist. At nearly 26 years
old, the Barcelona is a bit more
confident now but he is a nightmare for
journalists to interview. And he hates
talking on the phone. Even wirh
Maradona, who said:
“It’s harder to get Messi on the phone
than to interview God. ”
To communicate, the footballer uses his
relatives. At school, it was a friend who
raised his hand when he had a question.
Today, he uses SMS to pass important
messages. To say that the presence of
Ibrahimovic to Barca was troublesome,
he wrote to Guardiola
“Well, I see that I’m not really
important for the team, so … ”
This inability to socialise is probably the
sport strength of Messi. Locked in his
world, he is at home on the pitch,
impervious to pressure from other
people, even at the most publicized level.
His coach Tito Vilanova said he plays just
like when he was 13.
4 It is an anonymous footballer who
inspired the destiny of Messi
It is a footballer who has fallen into
oblivion who convinced Messi’s father
that the fate of his son was in Europe.
In 2000, the transfer of young players
from Latin America to the Old Continent
were rare. But this year, Leandro de
Petris was leading the way. The 12 year
old was a little star in Argentina and AC
Milan decided to secure his services.
At this time, the talent of Messi began
to dazzle his country. He was the best
player of “maquina 87″, the selection of
young Newell’s Old Boys who won four
championships in six years. So Jorge
Messi would hire two agents to get him a
test in a big club.
Messi landed in Barcelona because his
father guessed there was good
sportsmanship and financial future, not
because the club was the only one to pay
for his medical treatment, as the legend
says. In reality, Leo had already been
receiving injections of growth hormones
for years to treat his illness.
In any case, the career of De Petris was
much less brilliant than Messi: After
years of struggling in Italy, he now plays
Argentine third division.
5. He was recruited by Barcelona
after juggling with an orange
Fabian Soldini,an agent poached by
Messi’s father, said he must strike hard.
In “The Mystery Messi” Alexandre
Julliard and Sebastian Fest question
Soldini, who said:
“I went to see Lionel and I gave him a
few oranges and tennis balls. I told him:
“You train to juggle it and within a week,
I film.” A week later, Leo mastered his
subject. He made 113 juggle with an
orange, 120 with a tennis ball. I sent it
in Barcelona who quickly told me to bring
him along. ”
This is the beginning of the story.
Conquered by the boy, Carlos Rexach,
former coach of Barcelona, quickly sign
a transfer agreement on a paper towel.
And Messi is Barcelona player.
6. The Argentine Federation initially
called him Leonel Mecci
Messi, who obtained dual nationality,
shines in his first games with the youth
of Barça. So, the Spanish Federation
gets interested. It almost called him for
a selection.
The Argentine Federation realizes it
must enlist quickly not to lose him
forever. In the rush, it sends a notice
when it barely knows who he is.
Barcelona receives it addressed to
“Leonel Mecci.”
Messi is delighted: he is the only player
playing outside Argentina to be part of
the team under 20 years old, sacred –
thanks to him – world champion.
The rest of his story with the Argentine
selection is a series of disappointments.
Xavi said Leo often gets “his morale
destroyed” by his travels with the
national team. He gets criticized because
he is not as good as with Barca and
because he does not sing the anthem.
He is treated as “pecho frio”, a coward,
too smooth and too nice to honor the
Argentine pride. When the team is
eliminated from the 2010 World Cup in
Germany, Messi cries in the dressing
room so much that “he seems to
convulse,” according to his coach.
7.He dedicates his goals to his
beloved grandmother
It is thanks to her grandmother that
Messi has persevered in football. It was
her who led him to his training in
Rosario, she convinced the coaches to
play the little man with the biggest.
Alzheimer’s patient, she died when Leo
was 10 years old. He still talks a lot
about her and he dedicates his goals by
pointing his finger at the sky
“I miss her so much. I so wanted her to
see what I’ve become. It is for this
reason that I dedicate my goals,
because I like to think she sees me where
she is ”
The passion of Messi is his family. His
father, so hard with him, and his
grandmother, but also his brother
Rodrigo with whom he has long lived in
the cocoon of the Barcelona suburb, his
“Little Rosario”, Matias, the other
brother, the more turbulent. His mother,
too, he has the face tattooed on his left
shoulder blade.
8. He speaks Catalan only when he is
drunk
Messi understands Catalan but almost
never speaks it It the standard of a club
that boasts its nationalism. Successive
presidents have never dared to
constrain the star.
Finally, one evening in celebration of a
title from Barcelona, he took the
megaphone, perched on top of the bus,
and shouted:
“Visca el Barça, visca Catalunya there
aguante Argentina, la concha de su
madre! ”
Translation:
“Long Live Barca, Long live Catalonia,
and Argentina, (swearing words)! ”
Messi had a scarf around his head. He
was drunk.
9. His best friends are always
Brazilian
Messi has always had lots of friends. He
was nicknamed “The Dwarf” or “La
Pulga” (the flea), they laugh at his big
ears, but his football skills command
respect. When he returns to Rosario, he
hangs out with his old buddies from the
“maquina 87.”
In Barcelona, he was close to those with
whom he has played since the age of 13,
especially Fabregas and Pique, who he
calls “Dad” because he has protected him
from an early age.
But with the Brazilians it is always the
best fun. Deco and Ronaldinho were his
best mates. He chose to wear the number
30 because it is adding their two jerseys
(10 and 20). These two, with Thiago
Motta, now in Paris, made him
experience the nightlife, to the point of
angering his father.
Then there was the meeting with
Sylvinho, who says:
“Leo asked me questions, he wanted me
to help, to take his hand in some way.
One day, for example, he wanted to
change euros for yen, but he did not
know how to do it. I went down to the
hotel reception for help. ”
Today, Alexandre Julliard said:
“In Barcelona, his two closest friends
are Dani Alves and the second
goalkeeper Pinto. At the club, some even
say that he is under contract just
because he is a friend of Messi. ”
10. “Inmessionante”, the word that
entered the dictionary
As the word “zlataner” makes you crazy.
Well, know that Messi, too, had the right
to become a common name. Santillana
dictionary joined the adjective
“inmessionante” whose definition is as
follows:
“Adjective that refers to Lionel Messi,
the perfect way to play football at its
unlimited capacity to excel. Says the best
footballer of all time. ”
This is the Argentine coach Alejandro
Sabella, driven by Pepsi, which has
campaigned for this neologism.
We say that Messi deserves it. His way to
dribble the ball glued to the outside of
his left foot, is unique. Guardiola
believes that he is the only footballer to
“run faster with the ball than without.”
Messi, explains it like this:
“When I was a kid, I played on rotten
wasteland in the streets, in my house.
My ball control is adapted to these
conditions with the outside game,
obviously, because it’s easier to keep the
ball … “
player who has the metallic taste of
Diet Coke. Mixing expressions of
Arsene Wenger and writer Fabian
Casas, we get the image that the
general public has of the best player
of the moment.
Indeed, one of the most spectacular
players of all time is known to have a
rather depressing and bland
personality. This article will change the
way you see him…
Here are 10 facts about Messi you’ve
probably never heard before:
1.He used to stuff his face with
pastries and Milanese escalopes
When Messi was a child, a coach had
found the right method for him to
surpass himself constantly: he promised
him a “alfajor” the full Argentine
pastry sugar for every goal scored. Leo
scored 5 or 6 then had swallowed his
due.
The four Golden Ball has always loved
food. His favorite dish: escalope
Milanese. His mother was cooking them
two or three times a week during his stay
in Catalonia.
When Josep Guardiola was appointed
coach of Barca, he quickly realized that
his gluttony was problematic. The press
began to call Messi “the star of
porcelain” because of his recurring
injuries, partly due to his unhealthy
lifestyle.
Guardiola decided to remove the Coca-
Cola vending machine from the training
center , which Messi used and abused,
and he appointed a physiotherapist,
Juanjau Brau who taught him to “not
run away when he saw a salad.”
“La Pulga” began to eat vegetables and
stopped to spend the night watching the
Argentine championship matches. And
injuries have become more rare. To
complete the job, Messi got engaged with
a childhood friend who was studying to
become a nutritionist, Antonella
Rocuzzo.
Messi and antonella roccuzzo, his fiance
who is also a nutritionist.
2. He did not manage to finish the
autobiography of Maradona
Messi said his favorite book was “El
Martin Fierro.” It is a well-known book
in Argentina, somewhat equivalent to the
“Little Prince” in France. The book is
laminated manual for school and talked
about when you’re stuck with nothing to
say. The success providing him
assurance, the Barcelona star now
assumes that he never reads and he is
not even able to overcome Maradona’s
autobiography.
His cultural universe is a wasteland. He
stopped watching the series “Lost” and
“Prison Break” because the story was too
complex for him. At most a few films,
such as “Cuidado, bebe suelto” or “El hijo
de la novia” as the heroine reminds him
of his grandmother (discussed).
Outside his sport, his passions revolve
around the PlayStation – he excels at
football simulations – and Disneyland,
where he likes to walk.
Alexandre Julliard, co-author of “The
Mystery Messi” says:
“Like many working-class children in
Argentina, there is no room for anything
other than family, friends and football.
That’s what built him. ”
Away from the football field, Messi is
really bored. He has long slept 12 hours
a day to kill time and his brother
Rodrigo talks about the first years in
Barcelona as a sad routine: nap,
Playstation and family.
However, Messi is not a stupid boy. All
those who know him say he is quick to
pick up things, quite smart actually. He
is of a humble type and also very polite.
The footballer Pedro Zabaleta, his
friend from youth teams, said outright
that he is “a better human being than a
footballer.”
3. He is socially inadequate
During his youth, Messi was so shy that
people sometimes thought he was mute or
autistic. Journalist at El Pais, Roman
Besa tells a story that illustrates his
inability to communicate:
“One day, Lionel entered the field with a
plastic spoon in his mouth. He did not let
go until the end of the session. It was a
way to show that he was upset. For what
reason? Nobody knew and nobody has
ever tried to find out. ”
His teachers advised parents to take him
to see a psychologist. At nearly 26 years
old, the Barcelona is a bit more
confident now but he is a nightmare for
journalists to interview. And he hates
talking on the phone. Even wirh
Maradona, who said:
“It’s harder to get Messi on the phone
than to interview God. ”
To communicate, the footballer uses his
relatives. At school, it was a friend who
raised his hand when he had a question.
Today, he uses SMS to pass important
messages. To say that the presence of
Ibrahimovic to Barca was troublesome,
he wrote to Guardiola
“Well, I see that I’m not really
important for the team, so … ”
This inability to socialise is probably the
sport strength of Messi. Locked in his
world, he is at home on the pitch,
impervious to pressure from other
people, even at the most publicized level.
His coach Tito Vilanova said he plays just
like when he was 13.
4 It is an anonymous footballer who
inspired the destiny of Messi
It is a footballer who has fallen into
oblivion who convinced Messi’s father
that the fate of his son was in Europe.
In 2000, the transfer of young players
from Latin America to the Old Continent
were rare. But this year, Leandro de
Petris was leading the way. The 12 year
old was a little star in Argentina and AC
Milan decided to secure his services.
At this time, the talent of Messi began
to dazzle his country. He was the best
player of “maquina 87″, the selection of
young Newell’s Old Boys who won four
championships in six years. So Jorge
Messi would hire two agents to get him a
test in a big club.
Messi landed in Barcelona because his
father guessed there was good
sportsmanship and financial future, not
because the club was the only one to pay
for his medical treatment, as the legend
says. In reality, Leo had already been
receiving injections of growth hormones
for years to treat his illness.
In any case, the career of De Petris was
much less brilliant than Messi: After
years of struggling in Italy, he now plays
Argentine third division.
5. He was recruited by Barcelona
after juggling with an orange
Fabian Soldini,an agent poached by
Messi’s father, said he must strike hard.
In “The Mystery Messi” Alexandre
Julliard and Sebastian Fest question
Soldini, who said:
“I went to see Lionel and I gave him a
few oranges and tennis balls. I told him:
“You train to juggle it and within a week,
I film.” A week later, Leo mastered his
subject. He made 113 juggle with an
orange, 120 with a tennis ball. I sent it
in Barcelona who quickly told me to bring
him along. ”
This is the beginning of the story.
Conquered by the boy, Carlos Rexach,
former coach of Barcelona, quickly sign
a transfer agreement on a paper towel.
And Messi is Barcelona player.
6. The Argentine Federation initially
called him Leonel Mecci
Messi, who obtained dual nationality,
shines in his first games with the youth
of Barça. So, the Spanish Federation
gets interested. It almost called him for
a selection.
The Argentine Federation realizes it
must enlist quickly not to lose him
forever. In the rush, it sends a notice
when it barely knows who he is.
Barcelona receives it addressed to
“Leonel Mecci.”
Messi is delighted: he is the only player
playing outside Argentina to be part of
the team under 20 years old, sacred –
thanks to him – world champion.
The rest of his story with the Argentine
selection is a series of disappointments.
Xavi said Leo often gets “his morale
destroyed” by his travels with the
national team. He gets criticized because
he is not as good as with Barca and
because he does not sing the anthem.
He is treated as “pecho frio”, a coward,
too smooth and too nice to honor the
Argentine pride. When the team is
eliminated from the 2010 World Cup in
Germany, Messi cries in the dressing
room so much that “he seems to
convulse,” according to his coach.
7.He dedicates his goals to his
beloved grandmother
It is thanks to her grandmother that
Messi has persevered in football. It was
her who led him to his training in
Rosario, she convinced the coaches to
play the little man with the biggest.
Alzheimer’s patient, she died when Leo
was 10 years old. He still talks a lot
about her and he dedicates his goals by
pointing his finger at the sky
“I miss her so much. I so wanted her to
see what I’ve become. It is for this
reason that I dedicate my goals,
because I like to think she sees me where
she is ”
The passion of Messi is his family. His
father, so hard with him, and his
grandmother, but also his brother
Rodrigo with whom he has long lived in
the cocoon of the Barcelona suburb, his
“Little Rosario”, Matias, the other
brother, the more turbulent. His mother,
too, he has the face tattooed on his left
shoulder blade.
8. He speaks Catalan only when he is
drunk
Messi understands Catalan but almost
never speaks it It the standard of a club
that boasts its nationalism. Successive
presidents have never dared to
constrain the star.
Finally, one evening in celebration of a
title from Barcelona, he took the
megaphone, perched on top of the bus,
and shouted:
“Visca el Barça, visca Catalunya there
aguante Argentina, la concha de su
madre! ”
Translation:
“Long Live Barca, Long live Catalonia,
and Argentina, (swearing words)! ”
Messi had a scarf around his head. He
was drunk.
9. His best friends are always
Brazilian
Messi has always had lots of friends. He
was nicknamed “The Dwarf” or “La
Pulga” (the flea), they laugh at his big
ears, but his football skills command
respect. When he returns to Rosario, he
hangs out with his old buddies from the
“maquina 87.”
In Barcelona, he was close to those with
whom he has played since the age of 13,
especially Fabregas and Pique, who he
calls “Dad” because he has protected him
from an early age.
But with the Brazilians it is always the
best fun. Deco and Ronaldinho were his
best mates. He chose to wear the number
30 because it is adding their two jerseys
(10 and 20). These two, with Thiago
Motta, now in Paris, made him
experience the nightlife, to the point of
angering his father.
Then there was the meeting with
Sylvinho, who says:
“Leo asked me questions, he wanted me
to help, to take his hand in some way.
One day, for example, he wanted to
change euros for yen, but he did not
know how to do it. I went down to the
hotel reception for help. ”
Today, Alexandre Julliard said:
“In Barcelona, his two closest friends
are Dani Alves and the second
goalkeeper Pinto. At the club, some even
say that he is under contract just
because he is a friend of Messi. ”
10. “Inmessionante”, the word that
entered the dictionary
As the word “zlataner” makes you crazy.
Well, know that Messi, too, had the right
to become a common name. Santillana
dictionary joined the adjective
“inmessionante” whose definition is as
follows:
“Adjective that refers to Lionel Messi,
the perfect way to play football at its
unlimited capacity to excel. Says the best
footballer of all time. ”
This is the Argentine coach Alejandro
Sabella, driven by Pepsi, which has
campaigned for this neologism.
We say that Messi deserves it. His way to
dribble the ball glued to the outside of
his left foot, is unique. Guardiola
believes that he is the only footballer to
“run faster with the ball than without.”
Messi, explains it like this:
“When I was a kid, I played on rotten
wasteland in the streets, in my house.
My ball control is adapted to these
conditions with the outside game,
obviously, because it’s easier to keep the
ball … “
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