Zayd Shehadeh

First-Year Writing
Professor Christen Enos
November 23 2015

Context Note
I have decided to write a biography on Lionel Messi. This biography
includes the major events from his life but also talks about what you can
learn from his experiences. My goal for the audience is to have them learn
that you should never give up through the reflection of Lionel Messis
experiences and how he got to where he is now. This biography is aimed at
soccer fans as well as people who are looking for motivation in their life. It is
geared towards soccer fans as they many are interested in Messi and his
journey to the top. It can also be aimed at people who are looking for
motivation as this biography will give them another reason to keep them
going. I think that this biography could be published on different types of
websites. For example, It could be published on a sports website such as
Goal.com as well as a website that has biographies of famous people such as
Biography.com.

Lionel Messi, the Journey of a Great

For those of you who do now know who Lionel Messi is, he is a soccer
player who has reached great heights thanks to his humble beginnings.
Although some might think that his life has always been easy and glorious as
it is now, he has gone through a lot to get to the point that he is now at. The
financial situation of his family as well as his health problems as a kid
contributed to his challenging childhood that would soon become his
greatest strength. Against almost all odds, Messi was able to fight through
his and his familys problems and make it to the top. No matter how hard
things got for him, he was able to continue and persevere, something that
everyone should strive to do.
Lionel Messi was born on June 24 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. He was
born to a steel factory manager and a worker in a magnet manufacturing
work shop. Messi grew up playing soccer with his older brothers and cousins
which led him to develop a passion for the sport. It was clear that Messi had
a talent from the beginning, just at the age of six, he joined his favorite club
team, Newells Old Boys. Although he was only six years old, he scored about
500 goals during his time at his boy hood club. Further showing his talented
nature at playing soccer. However, at the age of ten, he was hit with yet
another challenge. He was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. This
threatened to stop him from being able to play professional soccer due to the
many complications surrounding it.

The growth hormone deficiency restricted his growth and If he couldnt

treat his problem correctly, his chances of playing soccer for a living would
be gone. Due to his familys weak financial situation, paying for his
medication was a struggle. Messi had to take a shot every day in order to
help him grow and it cost a couple of hundreds of dollars every month, a
number that was much to high for his family to keep the medication going
for a long period of time. Thankfully for him, a great opportunity was given to
him at the age of thirteen. He was given the chance at a trial for FC
Barcelona, one of the greatest European club teams of all time. The trainers
were so impressed with Messis ability that they offered to sign him and bring
him to Barcelona while also paying for his medical bills.
The offer made by Barcelona was not something that Messi, let alone
anybody, could decline. He was given the opportunity to go and play for the
best team in the worlds youth team. La Masia, FC Barcelonas youth
academy, was then and is still known as one of the best youth academies in
the world. It has produced the likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Guardiola, some
other great professional soccer players. La Masia had the possibility of
making Messi one of the best, something that was unthinkable without
Barcelona in the picture. Messi, accompanied by his father quickly took the
opportunity and moved to Barcelona to pursue Messis life long dream of
becoming a professional soccer player.
Moving to Barcelona was another very big adjustment to Messis life.
Only his father was with him while his siblings and mother were still in

Argentina. Although they spoke the same language, his accent was much
different that that of a Catalan. Despite the difficulties, he thrived at La
Masia. He quickly made his way up the ranks and developed into one the
best youth players at the academy. Although he was being treated for his
hormone deficiency, he was still expected to turn out on the shorter end of
the spectrum. Messi is now 169 cm or 5 7 which may be considered short
however, if it were not for the medication supplied by FC Barcelona, he would
have been much shorter. Despite his height and rather weak physical traits,
Messi proved critics wrong. He continued to impress at the top level for his
age category, proving that size doesnt matter. At the age of sixteen, he
made his first team debut for FC Barcelona and on May 1 2005, he broke a
first team record. He became the youngest player to ever score a goal for FC
Barcelona at only eighteen years old. People at the time were amazed by his
ability given his physical traits, but this was only the beginning of what was
to come.
Having already broken a record for FC Barcelona at the age of
eighteen, it was clear that he was destined for great things with his club
team. Messi has gone on to break over seventy-five records for FC Barcelona
and Argentina on an international and club level. A couple of the most
important records he broke include having the most FIFA Ballon DOrs,
scoring the most goals in a single calendar year and scoring in the most
consecutive league matches. Messi has won the most prestigious award, the
FIFA Ballon DOr a record of four times, more than any other soccer player in

history. The FIFA Ballon DOr is given to the best player in the world every
year in January. Secondly, perhaps his most important record, was the most
goals scored in a calendar year. He scored ninety-one goals in 2012, beating
Gerd Mullers previous record of eighty-five goals. Mullers record stood for
forty years and nobody though that anybody would surpass him until Messi
came along and did just that. Another one of his incredible records was when
he scored in eighteen straight league games for FC Barcelona. Lionel Messi,
now at the age of twenty-eight, has already amazed the soccer world with all
of these feats and more. He still has at the minimum, another five years
remaining before he retires and who knows what he will be able to
accomplish by then.
Although Messi has gone on to become a great, he has not forgotten
where and how it all started. Mess has used his influence as one of the best
soccer players to improve the lives of many all around the world in different
ways. He is currently a good will ambassador for UNICEF where he helps
UNICEF reduce the child mortality rate in third world countries. In addition,
he has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to places such as Syria and
organizations such as UNICEF. Although Messi moved to Spain at a young
age, he hasnt forgotten about his roots. He has donated money to a hospital
in his home town, Rosario. He has also participated in many efforts to
improve the lives of the Argentinian people through his influence on and off
the pitch. The fact that he continues to support the lives of others is another
reason why his is a great influence to many.

Lionel Messis determination, skill and childhood have made him the
person that he is today. Many people look to Messi as an inspiration, as
someone who achieved the impossible. Everybody would like to achieve
what Messi has and the fact that he did it with such a big disadvantage
makes it even more incredible. You have to fight to reach your dream. You
have to sacrifice and work hard for it (Messi). This quote said by Messi,
perfectly sums up his story and what he had to go through. This is the kind of
mentality that fans all over the world strive for and so they look to him as the
perfect example. Messi did something that millions of people would love to
do and his story makes people believe that they can do the same.
Lionel Messis story is something that many people should read and
take note of. He progressed from a little boy with a hope and dream to
debatably one of the best players to ever play soccer. He has been compared
to previous greats such as Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho and Pele. Messis
story is one that everybody should be familiar with and learn from. Despite
the struggles of the hormone deficiency and critics, he was able to become
one of the best, something that defied all the odds against him. Lionel Messi
is an idol to many and he is not finished yet.