Lionel Messi: how much does the football god earn?

Biography of Lionel Messi

Each “football generation” has its heroes: Pele, Diego Maradona, Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane, and now Lionel Messi - the best footballer in the world, playing for Barcelona at number 10.

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi

How did a boy from a poor family with a congenital illness that required expensive treatment overcome all difficulties on the way to becoming the five-time title of the best football player in the world? Read more about Leo Messi's path to success in our material.

How much do the highest paid footballers in the world earn compared to Messi?

The five richest football players in the world in 2020 are as follows:

Childhood and family

Lionel Andres Messi was born on June 24, 1987 in the Argentine city of Rosario. Messi's ancestors are from the Italian city of Ancona and emigrated to Argentina in 1883. Messi's father, Jorge Horacio Messi, was a steelworker, and his mother, Celia Maria Messi, worked as a cleaner. The family was large: Lionel has older brothers Matthias and Rodrigo and a sister Maria.

Future champion

Lionel started playing football at the age of 5. His father worked part-time as a coach at the local football club Grandoli, but it was his grandmother, the only family member who believed in his success in football, who first brought Lionel to classes. Many years have passed, Messi has become the greatest football player, and to this day, after every goal he scores, he raises his hands in honor of his grandmother, who left this world when he was 10 years old.

The team where Messi started playing football (2nd from the right in the top row)

At the age of 8, Lionel began playing for the Newell's Old Boys professional football club and soon became team captain. In 1997, Leo and the club won the Peruvian Friendship Cup. During one of the NOB matches, scouts from FC River Plate noticed him, and the young footballer began playing for two clubs at the same time. The terrible news destroyed the boy's dreams of a football career. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a deficiency of somatotropin, a growth hormone. Annual treatment would cost 11 thousand dollars, which neither the management of River Plate nor, especially, Messi's parents could afford.

Lionel Messi as a child

Leo’s father realized that the only chance was to take his son to a tryout in Barcelona (the club had previously shown interest in the gifted athlete). Football agent Horacio Gaggioli came to the rescue and took the boy to Spain. Horacio himself recalled that when he first saw Lionel, he did not believe in his success: “He was too skinny and small, but when I saw him in training at Barcelona, ​​I changed my mind. I realized that he would grow up to be a great player."

Lionel Messi family: brothers and sister

On October 3, 2000, Barcelona sporting director Carles Rexach saw little Messi in action and immediately offered him a contract. There was no paper at hand, and Carles scribbled the text of the agreement on a napkin.

Messi's first contract with Barcelona

The club paid for Lionel's treatment and transported his family to Spain. Messi joined the Barcelona youth team and began training at the La Masia football academy. At that time, Juventus coach Fabio Capello offered Barcelona to buy Messi for a lucrative sum, but he was refused.

Messi's height is 169 centimeters, but if he had not managed to get to Barcelona and receive the necessary injections, according to doctors' forecasts, he would hardly have overcome the 140-centimeter bar.

Who it

• Date of birth: June 24, 1987;
• Place of birth and nationality: Rosario, Argentina;
• place of residence: Barcelona, ​​Catalonia;
• height - 170 cm, weight - 72 kg;
• marital status - married to Antonella Roccuzzo, housewife;
• children - Thiago (November 2, 2012), Mateo (September 11, 2015), Ciro (March 11, 2018);
• education - 7 years of secondary school;
• position on the field - forward;
• favorite music: Brazilian samba and Colombian cumbia;
• pets - dog Hulk of the French mastiff breed.

Football career

Messi's debut in the main team of Barcelona took place on November 17, 2003. It was a friendly match against Porto. Then the authoritative Spanish newspaper El Mundo commented on his game like this: “The boy has the leg of Maradona, the speed of Cruyff and the pass of Ronaldinho.”

Young Messi: debut for Barcelona

Messi's first official match was Barcelona - Espanyol (October 16, 2004). At the Spanish Championship, 17-year-old Lionel, who came on as a substitute, scored his first goal in the “adult” team of FC Albacete. In September 2005 he received Spanish citizenship.

He made his debut in the Champions League on December 7 of the same year. The match with the Ukrainian Shakhtar was lost in favor of the Ukrainians 0:2. He scored his first goal in the Champions League in a match against Panathinaikos FC (November 2, 2005). He was unable to take part in the final match of the League due to injury. In December of the same year, he was awarded the title “Golden Boy” as the best young player under 21.

Messi beat Ronaldo In 2005, Messi made his debut for the Argentina national team. He will never forget this match against Hungary: after 47 minutes he received a red card, ran to the locker room and burst into tears.

Messi's first match for Argentina was unsuccessful

At the 2006 Spanish Championship, Lionel, with his famous hat-trick, finished the match in a 3:3 draw and received 3rd place in the Golden Ball and 2nd place in the FIFA Diamond Ball, beating Cristiano Ronaldo.

The matches of the 2007/08 season for Barcelona were unsuccessful, Messi's numerous injuries did not allow him to play at full strength, and the team took 3rd place, but still made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League. In the same year, Leo participated in the Olympic Games in Beijing as part of the Argentina national team. The Barcelona football club did not want to let go of its top scorer for a long time, and only after a conversation with head coach Guardiola did the club agree to let Messi go. Argentina took first place.

Olympic champions

The beginning of the 2008/09 season was marked by a change of number for Lionel: after the departure of Ronaldinho, Messi changed his number 19 to his “ten”. Lionel also won the Ballon d'Or as the best player in Europe.

Messi wears number 10 at Barcelona

At the beginning of the 2009/10 season, he signed a new contract with Barcelona, ​​valid until 2020 with a release amount of 250 million euros. The start of the season was successful: the team won the UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. On December 21, 2009, Messi received the title of Best Player in the World. And in the same year, the team, with the help of top scorer Lionel, won 6 titles.

UEFA Best Player

On January 16, 2010, in the match between Barcelona and Sevilla, Messi scored his 100th goal. At such an early age - 22 years old - no one has ever managed to achieve such high results. On April 6, at the 1/4 finals of the Champions League, Leo, who scored 4 goals, was recognized as the top scorer.

At the World Cup, Messi played in the Argentina national team against the Nigerian national team, the match ended with a score of 1:0 in favor of the Argentines. Lionel had many opportunities to score goals, but Nigerian goalkeeper Vincente Enyeama saved the team time after time.

Barcelona's most successful player

At the match with Greece, Messi entered the field as the youngest captain in the history of the Argentina national team; the match ended in favor of the Argentines 2:0. Leo played well, was recognized as the best player, but did not earn points according to the “goal+pass” system, and at the end of the group tournament, Messi was recognized as a “useless” player for the team, because he did not realize a large number of successful chances in the game, plus showed a lack goals and assists.

Leo Messi Golden Boot

In the quarter finals, the Argentina national team lost to the German national team 4:0, but despite the defeat, Messi was still nominated for the FIFA Ballon d'Or.

In 2011, the match between Barcelona and Sevilla ended with a score of 1:3. To get the cup, the team needed to score two goals per match, but they managed to do that, winning the trophy for the 9th time, largely thanks to Messi’s famous hat-trick. In the fourth round of the League against Copenhagen, a goal scored by Leo made Barcelona the new record scorer in the history of the EuroCup.

On January 10, 2011, Messi won the Golden Ball as the best football player in the World and became the fifth football player in history to win the most prestigious award in world football for 2 years in a row.

On 28 May 2011, Barcelona won the Champions League and Messi was again named man of the match.

In the new 2011/12 season, Barça won the Spanish Super Cup, the match took place in Madrid with the famous rival Real Madrid, but ended in a 2:2 draw. In the return match, the Catalans won 3:2 thanks to a goal scored by Messi. It was his 200th professional league goal.

Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d'Or four times in a row

On August 25, journalists from ESF member countries, through a draw, determined the winners of the League tournament in Monaco: 39 votes were given to Lionel Messi, now the best player in Europe. And on August 26, Barcelona won the UEFA Super Cup.

At the 2011/12 Spanish Championship, in the Barcelona-Osasuna match, Messi scored a hat-trick, as a result of which Barça won with a score of 8:0. The second hat-trick was scored against the Atlético Madrid team on September 24.

On December 24, 2011, the French publication Equipe recognized the Argentine football player as the best athlete in the world. Lionel scored 807 points, ahead of tennis player Novak Djokovic and Formula 1 race car driver Sebastian Vettel. Newspaper editorials reported that Messi is the first football player since 1998 to win this category.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rivals on the field

In March 2012, in the Barcelona - Granada match, scoring 3 goals, Leo set a record for scoring all official Barca matches. In total, Messi already scored 234 goals. On April 24, 2012, in the match between Barcelona and Chelsea, Leo missed a penalty, and after two matches with a score of 2:3, the team did not qualify for the final and thus dropped out of the fight for the Champions Cup.

Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona

But already at the end of April, Barcelona defeated the Madrid FC Rayo Vallecano with a stunning score of 7:0. In this match, Messi scored two goals and two assists. At the end of the championship, Lionel became the top scorer: he scored 50 goals, thereby beating Real Madrid leader Cristiano Ronaldo. In February 2012, in a match with the Swiss national team, Messi again scored his famous hat-trick, which led to the victory of the Argentina national team with a score of 3:1.

After every goal scored, Messi remembers his grandmother

The following season, Messi scored the 300th goal of his career with Barcelona on October 27 against Rayo Vallecano. And at the end of 2012, he was recognized as the best football player of the year by World Soccer magazine, beating Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta. A month later in Zurich, Lionel Messi became a four-time winner of the Ballon d'Or award for the fourth year in a row. On February 7, 2013, the footballer extended his contract with Barcelona until June 2020.

At the end of 2013, he lost the title of best player of the year to Cristiano Ronaldo, and at the beginning of the next year he took only second place in the fight for the Ballon d'Or. But in March 2014, in the 28th round of the Spanish Championship, he scored a hat-trick, bringing his goal tally for the Catalans to 371. Thus, Messi became the top scorer in the history of Barcelona in all tournaments.

At the 2014 World Cup, the Argentina national team performed successfully and reached the final, where they lost to the German national team with a score of 0:1. In the 2014 World Cup, Messi played seven matches in which he scored four goals. He was recognized as the best player of the World Cup.

In 2014, Spanish director Alexa de la Iglesia made an hour and a half documentary about Messi, in which he detailed the story of his success. The tape includes many videos from the football player’s archive.

Problems with law

In 2013, Messi and his father were accused of tax fraud. According to the Spanish prosecutor's office, they failed to pay more than 4 million euros to the national treasury. Both defendants denied their guilt.

Messi and his father in court

In 2020, Jorge and Lionel were sentenced to a year and 9 months in prison. However, the legislation allowed them to get away with fines: Messi Jr. paid 2 million euros, his father – 1 million.

Messi escaped prison

Personal life of Lionel Messi

At the age of 18, Lionel Messi dated 14-year-old Macarena Lemos, a native of Rosario. The young model and the budding football player were introduced by the girl’s father, who was eager to find a profitable home for his daughter. However, their relationship did not work out - Lionel’s mother opposed it, and there were no particularly warm feelings between them.

Macarena Lemos, Lionel Messi's first girlfriend

Then he briefly dated Argentine Playboy model Luciana Salazar, Miss Poland Anna Werber, and Argentine model Claudia Ciardone.

Messi dated luxury models

In 2009, Lionel was spotted at the Sightges carnival with a petite dark-haired girl. She stood out from the row of curvy blondes who were used to seeing next to Messi. In one of the interviews, the football player confirmed the seriousness of his intentions: “I have a girlfriend, and she lives in Argentina, and I am happy with her.”

Lionel Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo

Later it turned out that her name is Antonella Roccuzzo, and she is also a native of the city of Rosario; moreover, they have known each other since childhood: their parents were friends, and Leo himself played on the field with Antonella’s cousin as a child.

Messi and his wife have known each other since childhood

In November 2012, Lionel and Antonella had a son, who was named Thiago. In honor of this event, the football player got a tattoo on his leg with his name and the image of his hands.

Lionel Messi with his son

In addition, Messi has a tattoo with a portrait of his grandmother on his back (the athlete’s very first tattoo), on his shin there is the number “10” and a dagger, on his arm is Jesus in the crown of thorns, and on his elbow is a stained glass window of one of the churches of his hometown.

One of Messi's tattoos

On June 31, 2020, Messi and Antonella formalized their relationship. The wedding of the Barcelona football player and his childhood friend took place in a hotel in Rosario. The ceremony was attended by 260 guests and 157 press representatives.

Messi got married on June 31, 2017

The newlyweds insisted that instead of gifts, the guests transfer money to the account of the Techo charitable foundation. In honor of the wedding, they got paired tattoos on their fingers - the date of their wedding, written in Roman numerals.

Happy couple

For their honeymoon, the couple went to the island of Anigua, although only for a week.

Messi's wedding dance was criticized online.

Messi dances at a wedding And soon after the wedding it became known that Messi would become a dad again.

In addition to his football activities, Messi takes part in the social life of the planet, Lionel is an international goodwill ambassador for the UNICEF organization. In January 2013, the famous football player donated 152 thousand euros for the reconstruction of a sports center in his hometown of Rosario.

At various times, Messi was the face of the video games Pro Evolution Soccer, Adidas, MasterCard, Xbox, McDonald's, Danone, Pepsi, Lays and many other lesser-known brands.

Lionel Messi in an ad for Lay's chips

Lionel Messi now

In July 2020, Lionel Messi agreed on a new contract with Barcelona. The new agreement will be valid until 2022 - at the time of its expiration the footballer will already be 35.

Messi continues his career in Barcelona
In November of the same year, Messi came to Moscow as part of the Argentina national team. The national teams of Argentina and Russia met in a friendly match. Messi spent a whole week in the capital, to the delight of dozens of brave fans who took selfies with the world football star. The week turned out to be difficult, and not only because of the huge number of people wanting to take photos - on the fifth day of the visit, during training, snow began to fall over the stadium.

Achievements of Messi - football player

He was champion of Spain four times. This happened in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010. 2006 and 2009 made him a Champions League winner. Messi won the title of best young footballer many times: in 2006 and 2007 in Argentina, according to FIFPro he was in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and according to World Soccer he was the best young footballer of the year in 2006, 2007 and 2008. 2007 brought Lionel Messi the title of best young footballer in Europe (Bravo Trophy).

Messi also won awards - the Spanish Cup once - in 2009, and the Spanish Super Cup three times: in 2005, 2006 and 2009. He also has the UEFA Super Cup - the dream of every football player - which he received as an award in 2009. Lionel Messi can also boast that he owns such awards as the Golden Ball from 2009, 2010 and 2011 and the Golden Boot from 2009-2010.

Being the champion among juniors in 2005, in 2008 he already became an Olympic champion. In the same 2008, Messi was recognized as the best football player and the best striker of the European Cup season.