Lionel Messi is nothing short of a phenomenon. With speed, composure, control and strength impossible to replicate there is so much we can learn from one of the greatest soccer players of all time.
Born 1987 in Argentina, Lionel Messi is an Argentinian professional soccer player who has played for FC Barcelona throughout his entire career. As a young boy, Messi suffered from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth and required expensive treatment. FC Barcelona agreed to pay for Messi’s medical treatments when he was 13, which saw the family moved from Argentina to Spain, and so begin the athlete’s epic career.
Messi’s short five feet, seven inches stature combined with speed and relentless attacking style have transformed him into one of the best soccer players in the world. He has won multiple awards throughout his career as the only player in history to win six FIFA Ballon d’Or awards. Messi has also scored over double the number of goals of anyone else to have appeared for Barcelona in the history of the club and set a record for most goals in a calendar year in 2012.
Among the top 20 richest athletes in the world, Messi’s strengths continue to dominate the soccer field as major portions of the audience stand in awe each time he comes into play. With still a lifetime ahead, his lived experiences are enough to inspire anyone to do anything it takes to get what they deserve and achieve what they are capable of.
1. It takes sacrifice as well as talent.
2. I’m never satisfied. I always push my limits and I always try to get better every day.
3. Something deep in my character allows me to take the hits and get on with trying to win.
4. A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of the sheep.
5. I’m always proudest whenever I’ve been part of a trophy-winning team. Lifting a title makes me feel so happy because it’s what I want to do in football: be successful.
6. You cannot allow your desire to be a winner to be diminished by achieving success before and I believe there is room for improvement in every sportsman.
7. My ambition is always to get better and better.
8. I never think about the play or visualize anything. I do what comes to me at that moment. Instinct. It has always been that way.
9. You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it.
10. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a happy and smiling child. I always help in any way I can, even if it’s just by signing an autograph. A child’s smile is worth more than all the money in the world.
11. It took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success.
12. On a personal note, I think it won’t be until after I’ve retired that I’m fully aware of what I’ve done or what I’ve gone on to achieve in my career.
13. I do it because I love it and that’s all I care about.
14. You can overcome anything, if and only if you love something enough.
15. When the year starts the objective is to win it all with the team, personal records are secondary.
16. I think my desire to always get better, to always want more, to always be my top critic, and accepting the good and the bad.
17. Barcelona gave me everything, they took a chance on me when nobody else would. I never have any desire to play for anybody else, I will be here for as long as they want me.
18. Barcelona is my life, they have brought me to where I am today, I could not leave, I don’t want to leave. My heart stays with Barcelona.
19. The only thing that matters is playing. I have enjoyed it since I was a little boy, and I still try to do that every time I go out on to a pitch. I always say that when I no longer enjoy it or it’s no longer fun to do it, then I won’t do it anymore. I do it because I love it and that’s all I care about.
20. Every year I try to grow as a player and not get stuck in a rut. I try to improve my game in every way possible. But that trait is not something I’ve worked on, it’s part of me.
21. In football as in watchmaking, talent and elegance mean nothing without rigor and precision.
22. Being a bit famous now gives me the opportunity to help people who really need it, especially children.
23. The truth is my idea has been to always stay at Barcelona and see out the rest of my career here. Like I always say, one doesn’t know what can happen in the future, but if it were up to me to decide, I would stay at Barcelona for the rest of my career.
24. I’m not the sort of guy who shouts and screams before a match.
25. Everything that’s happened to me in my career has been special, even the tough times because they leave marks on you that shape your life.
26. The day you think there is no improvements to be made is a sad one for any player.
27. I don’t know, I’ve liked football since I was a kid and I’ve always dreamt of becoming a professional footballer, I never thought of any other job.
28. What I do is play soccer, which is what I like.
29. Every time I start a year, I start with the objective of trying to achieve everything, without comparing it to how I’ve done in other seasons.
30. My ambition is to always get better and better.
31. One more step. The captain leads the way.
32. It doesn’t matter if I am better than Cristiano Ronaldo, all that matters is that Barcelona are better than Madrid.
33. It was hard for me because it was such a big change. I left a lot behind in Argentina and unlike other children living at the Masia, I hardly ever got to visit my family. I only saw them once or twice a year and that was very hard for me.
34. I used to serve tea at a shop to support my football training.
35. I’m lucky to be part of a team who help to make me look good, and they deserve as much of the credit for my success as I do for the hard work we have all put in on the training ground.
36. I try to use pressure to help me in every game. Pressure helps me do things to the best of my ability. I like it. I don’t feel pressure; quite the contrary, because I always enjoy what I’m doing and that’s playing football.
37. I don’t need the best hairstyle or the best body. Just give me a ball at my feet and I’ll show you what I can do.
38. I am competitive and I feel bad when we lose. You can see it in me when we’ve lost. I’m in a bad way. I don’t like to talk to anyone.
39. I go out and do the best I can in each game, and I don’t think about the fouls other players will commit or whether I might be injured. It only does you harm to worry about those things.
40. This is why I didn’t go out to parties and many other things. I am successful because I made sacrifices for success.
41. There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.
42. Football has been my life since I was a kid. My style remains the same, I love every single minute I get on the pitch. I know I have a great responsibility, and that there are objectives to accomplish, but I try to have fun too, because that’s what i love to do.
43. I like to score goals but I also like to have friends among the people I have played with.
44. Little by little, I’m getting better all the time. I’ve not lost the passion to play.
45. I have fun like a child in the street. When the day comes when I’m not enjoying it, I will leave football.
46. Whether it’s a friendly match, or for points, or a final, or any game – I play the same. I’m always trying to be my best, first for my team, for myself, for the fans, and to try and win.
47. I don’t consider myself the greatest player in Barcelona’s history. Because I know it’s Ronaldinho. I still remember that he was the one who assisted my first ever Barcelona goal. He wasn’t simply passing the ball, he was passing the torch to me.
48. I want to be world champion, but not to change the perception of others towards me or to achieve greatness like they say, but rather, to reach the goal with my national team and to add a world cup to my list of titles.
49. Being named among the best at something is special and beautiful. But if there are no titles, nothing is won.
50. Just to hear people saying and thinking that makes me very proud indeed. But I try not to think about it too much and just focus on enjoying everything that I have in this life.
51. This is much more than I dreamed about as a boy. I want to thank football in general for what it has given me.
52. Sometimes you have to accept you can’t win all the time.
53. My family was always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me.
54. Goals are only important if they win games.
55. I still have a lot of room for improvement. For example, I want to shoot equally well with both feet.
56. Some people say my style of play is innate, but I’m not sure if that’s me or not. Honestly, I do play on instinct. On the pitch, I’m always looking for the best move or decision at any given time. I never want to do what the opposition would be expecting.
57. Whether it’s a goal, or winning a game, I’m never satisfied.
58. I’ve always really just liked football, and I’ve always devoted a lot of time to it. When I was a kid, my friends would call me to go out with them, but I would stay home because I had practice the next day.
59. To be honest, I never realized it. I never really thought that I was going to be really good or not. I just wanted to make my dream come true.
60. I made sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. I changed my friends, my people. Everything. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream.
61. I am a normal person. I have the same life as any human being. When I finish playing, doing my work, I have my family, my friends, and I live like any other person.
62. The Barcelona youth program is one of the best in the world. As a kid, they teach you not to play to win, but to grow in ability as a player.
63. The best decisions aren’t made with your mind, but with your instincts.
64. I prefer to win titles with the team ahead of individual awards or scoring more goals than anyone else. I’m more worried about being a good person than being the best football player in the world. When all this is over, what are you left with? When I retire, I hope I am remembered for being a decent guy.
65. Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn’t thrill me or make me play better because there are benefits to being wealthy. I’m just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn’t paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing.
66. I start early, and I stay late, day after day after day.
67. I want to be world champion, but not to change the perception of others towards me or to achieve greatness like they say, but rather, to reach the goal with my national team and to add a world cup to my list of titles.