Our unique and original biography of Lionel Messi offers a comprehensive look into his childhood, family life, parents, spouse, children, net worth, lifestyle, and personal experiences. We recount significant events in Messi’s journey to fame, tracing his rise from early beginnings to becoming one of the most renowned football stars of our time. To provide you with a preview of what to expect from our biography, we present a timeline of Messi’s life from infancy to success, providing an excellent summary of his remarkable journey.
It’s common knowledge that Lionel Messi is often compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and fans often debate who is the greatest of all time in football. However, there are only a few people who know the detailed yet summarized version of Lionel Messi’s life story. But don’t worry, we have it all prepared for you. So without further ado, let’s begin with the table of contents.
Firstly, we will take a look at Lionel Messi’s childhood story, followed by his family background and origin. Then we will delve into his untold biography, including his football story, who discovered his talent, and his early career with Newell’s Old Boys. We will also discuss how he coped with grief after the death of his grandmother and his struggle with disease.
Next up is the road to fame story, which includes the fascinating story of Lionel Messi’s napkin contract. We will also dive into his early life in Spain, medical treatment, farewell to best friends, and Olympic triumph. And of course, we cannot forget his love story with Antonella Roccuzzo, including her previous boyfriend before marrying Lionel Messi.
We will also take a look at Lionel Messi’s personal life, lifestyle facts, and family life, including his father, mother, brothers, sister, cousins, aunts, and nephews. Lastly, we will explore his grandparents and great-grandparents.
To start our biography, Lionel Messi was born on June 24th, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. His mother is Celia Maria Cuccittini, and his father is Jorge Horacio Messi. He is often referred to as the greatest of all time or the GOAT in football circles.
In case you weren’t aware, Lionel Messi was born into a family of five in Argentina. His parents worked in steel and magnet manufacturing in the city of Rosario, located in the central Santa Fe province of Argentina. Messi grew up with his three siblings, including his eldest brother Rodrigo, his older brother Matias, and his younger sister Maria Sol Messi.
Lionel Messi’s Family Background: Raised in a tight-knit family with a passion for soccer, the iconic player of Barcelona hails from humble beginnings. During the late 1980s, his parents, Jorge and Celia Maria, encountered financial troubles due to economic downturns in Argentina. Despite these challenges, they never wavered in their determination to provide for their loved ones.
A few years after Lionel Messi was born, Argentina was on the brink of an economic collapse due to their inability to pay off their debts. This resulted in hyperinflation, devaluation of their currency, and riots becoming a common occurrence. This crisis affected many middle-class households, including Messi’s family, who, like three million other Argentines, struggled to make ends meet. Interestingly, Messi’s family has more European roots than Argentine roots as his grandparents, Antonio, Celia-Olivera, Rosa Maria, and Eusebio, are not from South America.
Messi hails from a diverse background, with Italian and Spanish roots on his father’s side. His paternal grandparents migrated from the north-central region of Italy and Catalonia to Argentina. Meanwhile, his maternal grandparents have purely Italian ancestry. Messi was raised in a closely-knit family that shared a love for football. He honed his skills at an early age by playing regularly with his older brothers and cousins, who later pursued careers as professional footballers. Even at the age of four, Messi’s potential was recognized by his grandmother, who believed that he had what it takes to become a football superstar, surpassing even the coaching of his older siblings.
Celia Oliveira Cuccittini played a crucial role in recognizing and developing Lionel Messi’s talent as a football player. She was the only family member who believed in his potential and personally took him to his first football training session, providing him with words of encouragement. Celia even convinced Messi’s parents to buy him his first pair of football boots and persuaded the local club coach to include him in the match squad.
One day, Messi and his family attended a match where a group of boys played, including Rodrigo and Matias, who were there to be watched by Messi’s household. However, Coach Salvador Aparicio noticed they were short one player and convinced Messi to join in. Initially hesitant, Messi quickly showcased his brilliance by dribbling past everyone, including his older brothers.
From that moment on, Messi became an instrumental part of Aparicio’s team and helped them win their first-ever trophy, beginning the journey of the Atomic Flea and holding the first honor to his name. Thanks to his grandmother’s unwavering support, Messi’s talent was recognized and developed at a young age.
Starting His Career with Newell’s Old Boys: A coach named Aparicio was impressed by Messi’s extraordinary talents and promised to take him to a larger academy to cultivate the young local boy into a legend. During this period, Lionel’s father, Jorge, took on the role of his trainer as a way of providing emotional support for his son.
Since he was just six years old, Messi and his family have been devoted supporters of Newell’s Old Boys. Unfortunately, when he was trying to settle into the club, his grandmother Celia Oliveira Cuccitini passed away. It’s worth noting that she was the one who discovered his talent and her death was a significant loss for Messi. However, as a tribute to his grandmother, he began celebrating his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky. Her death occurred shortly before his eleventh birthday. During his six-year stint with Newell’s, Messi scored nearly 500 goals. He was part of a group of boys known as “The Machine of ’87,” an almost unbeatable youth team whose nickname came from their year of birth – 1987.
The boys’ team was famous for their halftime ball tricks during home games. Even now, the Machine of 87 still has a WhatsApp group with Lionel Messi as their leader.
Lionel Messi’s story about his disease is quite remarkable. When his grandmother passed away, he suddenly stopped growing, and there were concerns about his future as a professional player. Even his coach and family were worried because Lionel looked like a dwarf compared to his teammates of the same age group.
Messi had a condition that inhibited his growth due to a hormone deficiency disease. His father had difficulty paying for his medical expenses, as their insurance only covered two years of hormone treatment, which cost $1,000 per month. Newell’s initially offered to help with the expenses but later reneged on their promise. Fortunately, Messi’s grandparents in Catalonia managed to find treatment for him through FC Barcelona. When Messi was 13, FC Barcelona agreed to cover his medical expenses after his grandparents convinced a prominent member of the club’s management. Initially, FC Barcelona’s team director wanted to sign Messi, but the board of directors refused because of soccer regulations against signing foreign players of his age. However, on December 14, 2000, Newell’s Old Boys gave an ultimatum to FC Barcelona to prove their commitment to Messi or risk losing him. On that fateful day, Carles Rexach signed Lionel Messi’s contract hastily on a napkin while rushing to meet the deadline.
During February 2001, Lionel Messi’s family decided to start a new life in Spain and settled in an apartment close to Camp Nou. Unfortunately, Messi was unable to play with his FC Barcelona academy teammates due to a transfer conflict between Newell’s Old Boys and the Catalonian club. Later on, Messi’s mother moved back to Rosario with three of his siblings, leaving him in Barcelona with his father and distant relatives. It was during this time that Messi fell ill.
In February of 2002, Messi was finally given the green light to join the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and become a part of La Masia- Barcelona’s renowned youth academy. With his inclusion into the team, he eagerly participated in all of their competitions and formed strong bonds with his fellow teammates, such as Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique. After patiently waiting for a year, Messi was ecstatic to finally have the chance to exhibit his talents and improve as a player within this highly esteemed academy.
Upon finishing his growth hormone treatment at 14 years old, Lionel Messi joined Barcelona’s Baby Dream Team, which was considered their best youth squad ever. While he just started playing regularly and received an offer to join Arsenal, Messi decided to stay in Barcelona. His friend Cesc Fabregas went to Arsenal, and Gerard Pique left for Manchester United, but Lionel refused to leave and remained with Barcelona. In 2005, during the FIFA World Youth Championship, Lionel announced himself to the world by winning the Golden Ball, Golden Shoe, and Olympic gold medal.
Back in Barcelona, Lionel progressed quickly through the club’s ranks and caught the attention of Frank Rijkaard, who made him a regular member of the senior team. During his first training session with the senior team, Ronaldinho befriended Messi and called him “little brother,” which helped him transition smoothly. Lionel made his debut with FC Barcelona’s senior team during a friendly against Jose Mourinho’s Porto, impressing sports writers and fans alike. Since then, Lionel has had many successful seasons, winning over 34 trophies for Blaugrana.
Since his emergence on the soccer scene, the renowned athlete has been awarded the title of World Player of the Year an impressive six times. Lionel’s countless magical moments, numerous trophies, and incredible goal-scoring feats have earned him the coveted title of Football’s Greatest of All Time. Alongside Alexia Putellas, he now shares the distinction of having the most Ballon d’Ors in a Barcelona shirt for both male and female players. It’s safe to say that Lionel Messi is an irreplaceable legend whose status will undoubtedly go down in history.
Lionel Messi’s love story with Antonela Roccuzzo is truly inspiring, as it was born out of a childhood friendship that blossomed into something more. Growing up in Rosario, Argentina, Leo and Antonela naturally became inseparable. In this section, we’ll explore how their friendship evolved into a beautiful love story.
Leo and Antopela, who are now happily married, were introduced to each other by a childhood friend of Leo named Lucas Scaglia. Interestingly, Lucas happens to be Antopela’s cousin. Both Lucas and Leo are of the same age and used to have fun playing on Rosario Beach when they were young. It was during one of these childhood play days in 1992 that Leo first met his future wife Antopela. Even at a young age, they promised to always be together. This story serves as an early testament to the day they may have first met.
During a meeting with his friend Lucas Scaglia, Messi asked about a girl who turned out to be Scaglia’s cousin. At the tender age of nine, Messi wrote a love letter to eight-year-old Antonella expressing his desire to be together in the future. Despite popular belief among football fans that Messi and Antonella were childhood sweethearts, they actually experienced a brief breakup due to distance when Antonella got involved with another boy during Messi’s treatment for growth hormone deficiency in Spain. However, the couple eventually reunited after Antonella gave up hope of being with Messi.
Leo got in touch with his former girlfriend whom he hadn’t spoken to in seven years, as he had been living in Spain with his parents. Interestingly, Messi and Antonella’s relationship didn’t become serious until 2007 when she broke up with her previous boyfriend, who was not wealthy and spoke his mind freely. Surprisingly, Antonella’s ex-boyfriend took the breakup well and even spoke to a local Argentine newspaper, expressing happiness that she left him for no one but Lionel Messi. After two years of rekindling their romance, Messi went public with their relationship. Three years later, they got married on June 30, 2017, at a luxurious hotel in Rosario with around 260 guests in attendance, including both sets of parents and family members.
While constructing the biography of Lionel Messi, it is crucial to mention that he is a family-oriented person and a proud dad of three boys. His first son, Thiago Messi, was born on November 2nd, 2012, followed by Mateo Messi on September 15th, 2015, and Ciro Messi on March 10th, 2018. Messi’s actions and conduct reveal that he places immense importance on spending quality time with his loved ones.
Lionel Messi, affectionately referred to as the “GOAT,” is an individual who values the tranquility of silence and dislikes any form of noise. His sensitivity to his surroundings is quite high, and he prefers to reside in a forested area situated near Barcelona’s bustling city center. To get rid of any potential noise disturbance, he bought all the neighboring properties from his neighbors. This information was disclosed by one of his former teammates.
Were you aware that airplanes are not permitted to fly over Lionel Messi’s residence? This peculiar incident occurred after Messi filed a complaint against the Barcelona-El Prat airport, requesting that they alter their flight path to avoid disturbing his afternoon nap with the noise from planes passing overhead. Beyond his achievements on the soccer field, Messi is also a devoted family man who values a peaceful life spent with his loved ones and pet dog in the comfort of his mansion.
To the best of our understanding, it appears that the Argentine athlete primarily spends his wealth on building expansive residences and acquiring automobiles. One notable figure who exemplifies this trend is Lionel Messi, who boasts a collection of cars including the luxurious Audi Q7 (which comes with a price tag of €69 million), the Ferrari 335 S Spider Scaglietti (valued at €32 million), and a Maserati Granturismo worth approximately €90,000.
Lionel Messi places great importance on his hometown of Rosario and continues to keep his local accent despite his worldwide popularity. He even owns all of his family’s old homes, even though they are in poor condition, as a tribute to his modest beginnings. Here are some fascinating tidbits about his parents and extended family.
During Lionel Messi’s childhood, his father Jorge Horácio Messi was employed as a manager at a steel factory. However, when Lionel was merely four years old, Jorge left his job to coach his son at the local football club, Grandoli. Since then, he has been an unwavering source of support for his son through good and bad times. In fact, Jorge currently serves as Lionel’s agent, a role he has held for many years. He played a crucial part in advising Lionel to remain in Barcelona to avoid any legal disputes with the club after his relationship with them soured following the arrival of Ronald Koeman.
Jorge Horacio has done an impressive job in managing his son’s empire thus far. It is important to note that Lionel Messi’s parents are divorced, which means his father is no longer with his mother, Celia Cuccittini. Speaking of Lionel Messi’s mother, she is also known as Celia Maria Cuccittini and used to work part-time as a cleaner. Presently, she looks after her son’s personal affairs and manages the Messi charity foundation. Leo shares a strong bond with his mother, having her face tattooed on his left shoulder.
There was quite a commotion at Lionel Messi’s wedding when his mother, Celia Maria, showed up wearing a white dress that looked similar to the one worn by the bride, Antonella Roccuzzo. This caused some disagreement as it is considered very disrespectful in Argentina’s culture for anyone other than the bride to wear white during a wedding ceremony.
Despite the instructions given for the event that stated Celia’s attire should be “dark,” she chose to go against traditional Argentine customs. This decision resulted in tension between her and Atonella Roccuzzo and Leo’s family, who were not on speaking terms. It is worth noting that Lionel Messi’s brother goes by the name Rodrigo Messi.
The Messi family has an older sibling named Rodrigo who was born on February 10th, 1980, and is eight years senior to the renowned Barca player. Similar to other members of the family, Rodrigo plays a significant role in managing Lionel’s professional business by taking charge of his schedule and publicity on a daily basis. Matias, Lionel’s brother, is another crucial member of the Messi family.
Matias, the second eldest sibling in the Messi family, was born on February 10th, 1980. He is involved in his brother’s foundation, along with his mother Celia Maria. However, there was a negative incident when he was caught in possession of an illegal firearm in 2016. As a punishment, authorities ordered him to conduct football classes in his hometown for a year. On the other hand, there is no information provided about Lionel Messi’s sister, Maria Sol.