The Greatest Footballer of All Time- Guess Who?
If you are an avid fan of football, El Grand Classico(Spanish for The Grand Classic), a football tournament in Spain featuring the two most illustrious and adept football teams in Spain ( Barcelona and Real Madrid ) should be in your must- watch list every yearEvery time these two giants meet, tickets sell like hot cakes, bars along the serene street of Madrid fill to the brim, becoming occupied with the supporters of both teams and their screaming voices, and the rest of Barcelona turns largely quiet, with merchandise and souvenir sellers moving to the bars, taking the opportunity to rake in extra revenue..
I am a big fan of Barcelona simply because the team never fails to excite and give followers an adrenaline rush every time they are on the pitch. I have enjoyed every game they have played this season. I reckon they are blessed to have a large number of good players, a brilliant training programme for their youth club, and a manager who is a tactical expert, for the combination of these aspects has gained them much success in recent years, and will likely continue to do so in the foreseeable future.
In addition to the above, there is one thing, or should I say, one person, who has helped to make such a significant difference to the team.
At the age of 23, his speed, skills and intelligence apart from his other qualities, has made him the biggest threat to Barcelona’s opponents. To date, he has scored 118 goals. Just last season, he helped Barcelona to secure 6 trophies from 6 different tournaments! He is none other than the Argentinean Maestro cum Ballon D’Or Winner for the year 2009 and 2010, Lionel Andres Messi.
Lionel Andres Messi, widely known as Messi, is an Argentine football player who is currently playing for Barcelona, as well as the Argentine national team. While Messi looks more like an innocuous school boy rather than a star athlete, his skills belie his appearance: A deadly fast dribbler, he can avoid up to six players at one time and put the ball behind the goal line with his renowned left foot kick in a blink of an eye. Considered by many as one of the best football players of his time, his virtuosity and flair have been lauded in many quarters, be it coaches, managers, or even other players. The manager of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger quoted, "Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace.""He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make."
In fact, some pundits often regard Messi as the heir of the throne left by another legendary player in Argentine football history, Diego Maradona, agreeing that they share the same dexterity, skills, as well as flair on the field.
The path that Lionel Messi has walked thus far to become the professional football player that he is today is an interesting and inspiring one. The agility that he displays makes us tend to forget that he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency at the young age of 12 albeit it is this deficiency that paved his way to gain countless achievements and recognitions today. He was born and raised up in Santa Fe, Rosario. His father, Jose Horacio Messi used to work in a factory for a living and his mother Celia Maria Cuccittini worked as a part time cleaner in a small shop in Rosario. Messi started to play football when he joined a local club, Grandoli at the age of 5 and in 1995, he was promoted to the Newell’s Old Boys where his talent was further developed and groomed. Looking at the bottomless courage and utter boldness of this young kid, Barcelona instantly realized that Messi had a promising career in professional football. Barcelona promised to fund his treatment, on the condition that Messi had to play with their youth club and move to Europe for good.
Talking about Messi’s achievement, either personal or with club will come to no end. Even if I stay up all night long, there would not be enough time to list down all the remarkable successes in his career at a very young age of 23. Thus, I have decided to put my own reasons as to why I admire him so much.
First and foremost, Messi has a very down to earth attitude despite all the success that he has so far achieved. Why do I put this and not his aptitude as the first reason? In a very highly competitive football environment, it is very hard if not impossible to find someone who is really humble in everything he does. Many of the footballers often get involved in verbal wars, in which they nonchalantly hurl insulting remarks at each other. Then, there are players who like to brag and boast about themselves, puffing up their chests and acting big. Lionel Messi, however, is not one of those players. He never uses derogatory statements that will hurt others, for the only brand of talk that he knows is carried out using his legs on the field, where he does everything possible to fathom the opponents’ defensive line in order to shut them up with the impossible goals so characteristic of his style of play.
Messi’s humility is another of the reasons as to why he is my favorite player. He never claims that he is the best player in the world, and I respect his humility, though it is still my belief that he is the best in the world. Further, he has high regard for his parent due to their sacrifice to pay for his treatment prior to receiving aid from Barcelona. During 2009, Messi won his first Ballon d’Or, after beating Ronaldo for the award. After receiving the award, he was quoted saying, “I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me.", showing his love and care for his family, and his appreciation of the encouragement they have given to him to achieve even greater success in his career.
As I mentioned earlier, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency when he was a kid. At that point of time, he was having difficulty paying for the treatment, which cost $900 a month. However, things are different now as he is able to pay for his own treatment. Today, Messi has toppled Tiger Woods to become the richest athlete in the world, earning a salary amounting to $183, 000 PER DAY. Though he is affluent, he never forgets to go back and contribute to society, having learnt plenty from his past experiences. All of the pains that he faced in his childhood have taught him to be more considerate and generous to others. His benevolence and sincere desire to help the needy was proven when he established The Leo Messi Foundation, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children. The foundation supports Argentine children who are diagnosed with health problems to receive treatment in Spain.
For these reasons, I believe that Lionel Andres Messi is a footballer in his own class. I am not saying that Xavi, Iniesta, Kaka, and Cristiano Ronaldo are not good football players. In fact they are among the greatest players of their generation and we should respect them for their talent. But my respect for Messi is not only hinged on his skills and style of playing, but it is more to his kindness and willingness to help others. It is really pleasing to see someone with good skills and great personality like him. However, he still has a long way to go; therefore let us pray that he will stay the way he is now and continues to play good football and perform good deeds to the people around him.
BY MUHAMMAD AQWA ALIF BIN JASMI
I am a big fan of Barcelona simply because the team never fails to excite and give followers an adrenaline rush every time they are on the pitch. I have enjoyed every game they have played this season. I reckon they are blessed to have a large number of good players, a brilliant training programme for their youth club, and a manager who is a tactical expert, for the combination of these aspects has gained them much success in recent years, and will likely continue to do so in the foreseeable future.
In addition to the above, there is one thing, or should I say, one person, who has helped to make such a significant difference to the team.
At the age of 23, his speed, skills and intelligence apart from his other qualities, has made him the biggest threat to Barcelona’s opponents. To date, he has scored 118 goals. Just last season, he helped Barcelona to secure 6 trophies from 6 different tournaments! He is none other than the Argentinean Maestro cum Ballon D’Or Winner for the year 2009 and 2010, Lionel Andres Messi.
Insurmountable speed and dribbling skills
Lionel Andres Messi, widely known as Messi, is an Argentine football player who is currently playing for Barcelona, as well as the Argentine national team. While Messi looks more like an innocuous school boy rather than a star athlete, his skills belie his appearance: A deadly fast dribbler, he can avoid up to six players at one time and put the ball behind the goal line with his renowned left foot kick in a blink of an eye. Considered by many as one of the best football players of his time, his virtuosity and flair have been lauded in many quarters, be it coaches, managers, or even other players. The manager of Arsenal, Arsene Wenger quoted, "Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace.""He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make."
In fact, some pundits often regard Messi as the heir of the throne left by another legendary player in Argentine football history, Diego Maradona, agreeing that they share the same dexterity, skills, as well as flair on the field.
The path that Lionel Messi has walked thus far to become the professional football player that he is today is an interesting and inspiring one. The agility that he displays makes us tend to forget that he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency at the young age of 12 albeit it is this deficiency that paved his way to gain countless achievements and recognitions today. He was born and raised up in Santa Fe, Rosario. His father, Jose Horacio Messi used to work in a factory for a living and his mother Celia Maria Cuccittini worked as a part time cleaner in a small shop in Rosario. Messi started to play football when he joined a local club, Grandoli at the age of 5 and in 1995, he was promoted to the Newell’s Old Boys where his talent was further developed and groomed. Looking at the bottomless courage and utter boldness of this young kid, Barcelona instantly realized that Messi had a promising career in professional football. Barcelona promised to fund his treatment, on the condition that Messi had to play with their youth club and move to Europe for good.
Helping out children as a part of his duty as Unicef’s ambassador
Talking about Messi’s achievement, either personal or with club will come to no end. Even if I stay up all night long, there would not be enough time to list down all the remarkable successes in his career at a very young age of 23. Thus, I have decided to put my own reasons as to why I admire him so much.
First and foremost, Messi has a very down to earth attitude despite all the success that he has so far achieved. Why do I put this and not his aptitude as the first reason? In a very highly competitive football environment, it is very hard if not impossible to find someone who is really humble in everything he does. Many of the footballers often get involved in verbal wars, in which they nonchalantly hurl insulting remarks at each other. Then, there are players who like to brag and boast about themselves, puffing up their chests and acting big. Lionel Messi, however, is not one of those players. He never uses derogatory statements that will hurt others, for the only brand of talk that he knows is carried out using his legs on the field, where he does everything possible to fathom the opponents’ defensive line in order to shut them up with the impossible goals so characteristic of his style of play.
Messi’s humility is another of the reasons as to why he is my favorite player. He never claims that he is the best player in the world, and I respect his humility, though it is still my belief that he is the best in the world. Further, he has high regard for his parent due to their sacrifice to pay for his treatment prior to receiving aid from Barcelona. During 2009, Messi won his first Ballon d’Or, after beating Ronaldo for the award. After receiving the award, he was quoted saying, “I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me.", showing his love and care for his family, and his appreciation of the encouragement they have given to him to achieve even greater success in his career.
As I mentioned earlier, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency when he was a kid. At that point of time, he was having difficulty paying for the treatment, which cost $900 a month. However, things are different now as he is able to pay for his own treatment. Today, Messi has toppled Tiger Woods to become the richest athlete in the world, earning a salary amounting to $183, 000 PER DAY. Though he is affluent, he never forgets to go back and contribute to society, having learnt plenty from his past experiences. All of the pains that he faced in his childhood have taught him to be more considerate and generous to others. His benevolence and sincere desire to help the needy was proven when he established The Leo Messi Foundation, a charity supporting access to education and health care for vulnerable children. The foundation supports Argentine children who are diagnosed with health problems to receive treatment in Spain.
For these reasons, I believe that Lionel Andres Messi is a footballer in his own class. I am not saying that Xavi, Iniesta, Kaka, and Cristiano Ronaldo are not good football players. In fact they are among the greatest players of their generation and we should respect them for their talent. But my respect for Messi is not only hinged on his skills and style of playing, but it is more to his kindness and willingness to help others. It is really pleasing to see someone with good skills and great personality like him. However, he still has a long way to go; therefore let us pray that he will stay the way he is now and continues to play good football and perform good deeds to the people around him.
BY MUHAMMAD AQWA ALIF BIN JASMI
