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5 things you might not know about Lionel Messi
From his tattoos to a Japanese theme park named after him.
Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi turns 30 on Saturday.
His
prolific goalscoring for club and country has made him a global
superstar, but there is more to the man from Rosario than meets the eye.
Here, we identify five things you might not know about the mercurial Messi.
‘La
Pulga’ is not a familiar term to most British football fans but in
Spain and Argentina the moniker is synonymous with Messi. It means ‘The
Flea’ as the diminutive forward is a constant pest during games and, as
the opposition try and fail to swat him away, he is likely to bite them
at any time.
Tattooed talent
Lionel Messi with his rose window tattoo inspired by Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia church (Mike Egerton/EMPICS Sport)Messi
has numerous tattoos, including a rose window inspired by Barcelona’s
famous Sagrada Familia church on his right arm, as well as his mother’s
face on his shoulder blade and the hand prints of his first child Thiago
on his calf, among other adornments.
Messi
stands at 5ft 7in partly because of a growth hormone deficiency, with
which he was diagnosed when he was 11 and already a star youth performer
with Newell’s Old Boys. The Argentinian club were unable to provide
serious funding for his treatment and it was not until he sealed a
switch to Barca in 2001 that he was able to take regular injections of
hormones to aid his development.
Messiworld?
(PA graphic)In
early 2019 a new theme park will open in Nanjing, China. There will be
81,000 square metres of football-based attractions with an intention to
“immerse visitors in Messi’s universe.” Yes, the Messi Experience Park
is in development but Chinese day-trippers cannot expect to see too much
of the Barca star around the site. “Hopefully they will feel that I am
around when visiting the park,” he said during a trip to China earlier
this month.
Do cry for me, Argentina
Argentina’s
Lionel Messi looks dejected as he collects his runner’s up medal from
FIFA President Sepp Blatter (Nick Potts/EMPICS Sport)Despite
his innumerable successes with Barcelona, Messi has experienced little
real joy across his 118 appearances for Argentina. His international
career started well enough as he won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2005
and an Olympic gold medal three years later. But he has twice tasted
defeat in the Copa America final and was on the losing side when
Argentina met Germany in the 2014 World Cup final. Now, even at 30, he
will still have opportunities to guide La Albiceleste to silverware.
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