Fifteen Things You didn’t know about Lionel Messi

This is about Lionel Messi an incredibly talented athlete who is considered by many to be the best football player in the world right now. Lionel Messi was born on June 24th, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. It was clear from a very early age that he was gifted in football. There’s also a Bonus Fact at the last of this.

He made his professional debut with Barcelona at the age of 17 in 2004. At 22 years of old, he won his first Ballon d’Or and he also won the FIFA World Player of the Year by record voting margins.

He is the only player to have won five FIFA Ballon d’Or Awards and he also has earned a record-tying for European golden shoes. Leo has also won eight La Liga titles five Copa del Rey for UEFA Champions League titles and a total of 29 trophies with Barcelona he also is Argentina’s all-time leading goalscorer. Leo’s success ability passion and dominance in his field are a source of inspiration

The 15 things you didn’t know about Lionel Messi

#1) As a child Messi suffered from growth hormone deficiency

When Messi was a child he had clear natural football ability but he also suffered from growth hormone deficiency. This was discovered when he was 11 years old. The deficiency limited his growth and caused other health complications too. He had to start treatments which consisted of daily injections in each leg over a period of three years. During this time, he remembers being the smallest on the football field but he says this made him more agile and quicker.

#2) Messi’s first contract was written on a Napkin

When Leo was 13 years old, he had a trial with Barcelona. Barcelona’s technical secretary, Carlos Rashad wanted to sign him immediately. But there was some hesitation by the Board of Directors because that wasn’t common to sign Leo at such a young age. A few months later, Carlos was desperate to not miss out on signing the gifted football star. While at a meeting with his parents, Carlos wrote up a contract on the nearest available material which was a napkin. The napkin was later framed and displayed in the office of Messi’s lawyer.

#3) In 2017 LeBron James took his spot as Second Highest-Paid Athlete

In 2016, Leo came in at number 2 on the list of the highest-paid athletes in the world. Right behind him was Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2016, Messi’s income was 81.4 Million Dollars and it dropped slightly to 80 million dollars in 2017. This made LeBron James pass him and claim the second spot with 86.2 Million Dollars. Leo still remains near the top of the list as the third highest paid athlete in the world.

#4) His estate was built in the shape of a football pitch

Messi hired architect Louis Scott IDO to design his estate to look like a football on a field the house was named the 1:0 house. It costs 7 million euro or over 8 million dollars u.s. to design and build the house is located outside the city of Barcelona and it overlooks the Catalan mountains the mansion is in a round football shape. It is built on land shaped like a football field from an aerial view the house along with the number 1 shaped structure on the property also make out his jersey number 10.

#5) He has listed his Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale for sale for 125 thousand dollars

The Maserati GranTurismo Stradale is a lighter and more aerodynamic version of the standard GranTurismo. The top speed of 188 miles per hour and a 460 horsepower v8 engine. Messi bought one of the earliest models in 2012 but he’s ready to let the car go for the amount of 125 thousand dollars. Other cars that have been included in Messi’s multi-million dollar car collection include the Maserati GranTurismo, Ferrari f430, an Audi R8, Spyder and a Toyota Prius

#6) Adidas pays Messi the most out of all of their athlete ambassadors

Throughout his career, Messi has had lucrative endorsement deals with Adidas. This also gives him a say in football boot designs in 2017. He signed a lifetime contract with Adidas. His previous seven-year contract was worth a total of 140 million dollars or 20 million dollars a year. This makes him the highest-paid Adidas athlete ambassador with the next highest-paid being.

#7) He celebrates his goals with a tribute to his grandmother

Leo’s biggest supporter from a young age was his maternal grandmother Celia. From the time he started playing football at the age of four she accompanied him to all of his practices and matches. When she passed away when Leo was 10. He was greatly affected by her death. He would look up and point to the sky as a tribute to his grandmother.

#8) Messi wore a $3,800 polka dot tuxedo when accepting his fourth Ballon d’Or Award

When Leo was honored with his fourth consecutive Ballon d’Or Award he turned some heads with his uncharacteristically bold wardrobe choice. His polka-dot tuxedo was designed exclusively for Messi by Dolce and Gabbana. The cost of that was about $3,800.

#9) He was the second athlete on Facebook to gain over 50 million followers

Leo is one of the most followed public figures on Facebook with well over 87 million followers within the first 7 hours of his page being launched he had 7 million followers and was the second athlete on Facebook to gain over 50 million followers who was the first to gain 50 million his football rival Cristiano Ronaldo who currently has over 120 million followers.

#10) Solid-gold replica of his left foot was sold for $ 5.25 Million

 A jewelry shop in Tokyo created a pure gold replica of Lionel Messi’s left foot the sculpture was created by Ginza Tanaka and is made out of 25 kilograms of solid gold the foot was put up for sale with a price tag of 5.25 million dollars the purchaser is unknown but part of the proceeds went to Massey’s Charitable Foundation while another part went to support children who were victims of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami if you want to find out more about the city where the gold foot was sold click on the upper right-hand corner to check out our video of 15 things you didn’t know about Tokyo

#11) Messi met his future wife when he was only 5 years old

Messi met his future wife Antonella Roccuzzo when he was just five years old. She is the cousin of his childhood friend Lucas who was also a football player. He and Antonella remained friends throughout their young lives but a tragedy brought them closer together when Messi returned to his hometown to console Antonella after her friend died in a car accident in 2007. They began secretly dating in 2008 and went public with the relationship in 2009

#12) An Ad Messi appeared in was voted best out of the decade on YouTube

Messi with Kobe Bryant starred in a few ads for Turkish Airlines in 2013. In one memorable advertisement, the two athletes engaged in a selfie competition. This took them around the world. This became the most watched ad on YouTube in 2013 with 137 million views. Later it was voted the best advertisement of the decade of 2005 to 2015. As a part of the commemoration of YouTube’s founding, it now has more than 145 million.

#13) Messi established a charitable organization

Messi took a trip to visit terminally ill children at a hospital in Boston Massachusetts. He felt like he needed to do more to give back to the community and help children in particular. This led him to founding the Leo Messi Foundation which focuses on giving children access to health care education and sports. He has also been involved in other charitable efforts including financially supporting a football club in the neighborhood where he grew up and purchasing a new gymnasium and dormitory for his boyhood football club named Newell’s Old Boys.

#14) Messi and his wife got matching tattoos to celebrate their marriage

In June of 2017, Messi married Antonella at a luxury hotel named city center Rosario in their hometown of Rosario Argentina with about 260 guests including many football players and the singer Shakira. In attendance, there were also 450 police officers hired to provide security prior to the ceremony. The couple got matching tattoos on their ring fingers of their wedding date in Roman numerals. Antonella showed off on her Instagram after the ceremony

#15) Messi outbid Ronaldo for one of the World’s Most Expensive cars

Messi outbid football rival Cristiano Ronaldo to pursue one of the world’s most expensive cars for 25 million pounds or over $32 million. An auction in Paris friends the car is a Ferrari 335 s Spyder Scaglietti and is known for having a top speed of 186 miles per hour in 1957. It finished second in an open road endurance race called the Mille Miglia and was the first car to average 200 km/h on a lap in the LeMond circuit.

Bonus Fact– Leo became the highest all-time scorer at Barcelona at the age of 24 beating out the previous record set by Cesare Rodriguez with 232 goals.

Read more: Barcelona star Lionel Messi is ‘more total’ than Cristiano Ronaldo, claims Gianluigi Buffon