On June 24th, 1987, a soccer star would soon be born. This soccer star is no other than Lionel Messi! Lionel Andrés Messi, also known as Messi, was born in Rosario, Argentina. You might have heard of Messi from the recent FIFA World Cup, who took home the trophy for his team, and along with breaking so many records in just one World Cup. But it wasn’t just the World Cup that gave Messi the spotlight in soccer, but a lot of other soccer events in the past as well.
Mission to Miami
When Lionel Messi recently signed with Inter Miami, he instantly became the biggest and most exciting story in American soccer. In fact, by the time he reached Miami Messi was already a hit! This soccer event in Miami was known as “The Leagues Cup”. Research from ESPN shows that “Messi has 11 goals in 13 matches with Inter Miami. It is 8-1-4 when he plays; seven of those matches were on the team’s run to winning its first trophy by claiming the Leagues Cup, and another was in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal. Inter Miami is 1-3-2 in its six matches without Messi since he joined the club.” (Devonport, Par. 12) Messi took the win in this tournament beating Nashville on penalties to win The Leagues Cup.
Taking home the World Cup trophy
Messi and his team participated in the 2022 FIFA World Cup which took place in Qatar, a country in the Middle East. The 2022 FIFA World Cup was a soccer tournament which lots of people watched. It took place starting from November 20th 2022 to December 18th, 2022. The final game between France and Argentina ended with a victory for Argentina, Messi’s team. This World Cup was not only a victory for Messi and his team, but with it, he broke so many world records! Lionel Messi broke no more than 10 world records in one World Cup! These records include most appearances (26), first ever two-time golden ball winner, most goal contributions (21), most games as captain, and so much more! 8th grade student Paloma Arciniegas says, “I don’t play soccer and I don’t really watch it, either (unless it’s the World Cup final), and I think that’s just because soccer just isn’t my sport. I think Messi is one of the world’s greatest soccer players in the history of soccer, not just because he has a tremendous amount of talent, but because he is also just a great human being in general. He isn’t a selfish, arrogant player unlike SOME players that I probably won’t mention here. Messi gets a 10/10!”
Growing Up Being the Best
As a kid, soccer was Messi’s favorite sport too. Messi started playing the sport at the young age of 4 years old and was coached by his father. He didn’t just dream about becoming a professional football player, but also he dreamt of being the best. This is the first lesson we learn from Messi, but the first lesson of inspiration that Messi learns too: the power of dreaming big. Dreams are the seeds of reality. They give us a vision, a goal to strive for. “You have to fight to reach your dream” – Lionel Messi. With this kind of motivation, Messi now obtains 42-44 soccer trophies throughout his whole career as a professional soccer player.