For soccer enthusiasts and sports fans in general, an in-depth look at the life of the beautiful game’s greatest star, Argentine footballer Lionel Messi. Whether you call it soccer, football, fútbol , or the “beautiful game," it is the most popular sport in the world, and Argentine footballer Lionel Messi stands as one of its finest players—not only of his time, but of all time. Admired around the globe for his athleticism, skill, and fierce competitiveness, Messi has, at the age of 24, already shattered records at one of the most storied clubs in the world, FC Barcelona. Now, in this comprehensive biography, Messi fans can learn more about his life and career. Argentine journalist Leonardo Faccio describes how Messi, as a talented youth player in Buenos Aires, left his home for Spain in search of the medical help his family could not afford to treat his rare hormone deficiency. Small of stature, but possessing tremendous natural gifts, Messi developed into a star at Barcelona’s famed Masia soccer school. In this book, Faccio has written not only a biography of an enigmatic celebrity, but a meditation on athletic genius, drawing on interviews with Messi himself, as well as with everyone from his family, teammates, childhood friends—even his favorite butcher. In-depth and intimate, soccer fans who enjoy watching Messi come alive on the field will delight as he comes alive on the page. "After reading Messi , Leonardo Faccio's exceedingly well-written, captivating, and almost poetic biography of arguably the best soccer player the world has ever known, I can tell you what Lionel Messi would be doing if he didn't play soccer: Nothing." — Playback STL "I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi." —Diego Maradona Leonardo Faccio (Buenos Aires, 1971) is a writer and journalist. Author of the books Letizia, la reina impaciente and Messi , his texts have been translated to seventeen languages. He has a degree in Journalism and a diploma in Social Anthropology. He publishes in numerous press media and is a university professor. He has written on various topics, such as the pharmaceutical industry, migration processes between America and Europe, and revolutions in Arab countries. He lives in Barcelona. Chapter 1. Lionel Messi has just returned from a Disney World vacation, dragging his flip--flops with that lack of glamour so typical of resting athletes. He could have continued his time off in Argentina or in any Caribbean country, but he opted to return to Barcelona early: Messi wants to train. Sometimes vacations bore him. He’s sitting on a chair in a deserted soccer field in the Ciutat Esportiva, FC Barcelona’s sports center, which operates in a valley secluded from the residential area of the city, a bright cement--and--glass lab where coaches turn talented soccer players into precision machines. Messi is a player with no instruction manual, and Ciutat Esportiva is his incubator. He has agreed to give a fifteen--minute interview this afternoon, and he looks happy. After touring with his club through the United States, he spent some time at Disney World with his parents, siblings, uncles, cousins, nephews, and girlfriend. Disney had seen Messi as the perfect person to promote its world of illusions, and Messi’s entire family was given access to all the rides as long as he allowed himself to be filmed in the gardens within this cartoon empire. Today, on YouTube, we can see a smiling Messi, performing miracles with a soccer ball in front of the fantastical architecture of the park.   “We had an amazing time,” says Messi with enthusiasm. “It finally happened.”   “What did you like most at Disney World?”   “The water rides, the parks, the attractions. Everything. Above all, I went for my nieces and nephews, my cousins, and my sister. But when I was a kid, I had always wanted to go.”   “Was it like a dream?”   “Yes, I think so, right? At least for kids fifteen and under, but also if you’re a little older.”   As we sit face--to--face at Ciutat Esportiva, Messi ponders each of his words before letting them out, as if every so often he needs to confirm that we have understood him, as if he were requesting permission to speak. As a child he suffered from a type of dwarfism, a growth hormone disorder, and since then, his short height has only magnified his soccer stature. Up close, Messi has that contradictory appearance of child gymnasts: legs with bulging muscles below, yet shy, inquisitive eyes above. He’s a warrior with a child’s gaze.   However, at times, it inevitably feels as if one has come to interview Superman and is instead met by one of Disney’s vulnerable and absentminded heroes.   “Who is your favorite Disney character?”   “None in particular, because as a kid I didn’t really watch many cartoons.” He smiles. “And then I came here to play soccer.”   When Messi says the word fútbol, his smile disappears and he becomes as serious