Football; a game that unifies hearts and brings people together from all over the world has had its fair share of great players in the 21st century and Lionel Messi is one of such. Lionel Messi, originally from Rosario, Argentina was born on June 24, 1987.
At a very young age, he started accompanying his brothers for football and got the opportunity to play for Grandoli. He then went on to play for Newell’s Old Boys some years later. All along, Messi suffered from a rare hormone deficiency that affected his height.
According to Hawkey,2008, at age 11 he was 4 feet and 4 inches tall and had stayed this way since he was 9. This was as a result of Growth Hormone Deficiency. In order for him to increase in height, he had to take some injections which took a toll on his family’s finances.
Due to his family’s financial struggles, they relocated to Europe and Messi continued with his football career. At age 13, Messi had the opportunity to play for FC Barcelona’s youth academy; La Masia in a trial match where he scored 5 goals, convincing the coach of a bright future.
Messi’s prowess caused the coach to sign an agreement for his treatment on a napkin at dinner with the condition that he plays for their club.
Since Messi chose to play for the club, he also received his treatment and made his first appearance for FC Barcelona during the 2004/2005 season at age 17. He started off as a midfielder with FC Barcelona till his first good season in 2006/2007 and ever since he has been good at what he does.
Height of Messi
Currently, Messi plays for Paris Saint-Germain of France and has a height of 5 feet 7 inches or 170 cm. His height meets the average standard of men in Spain but is slightly deficient of 4.5 cm according to the average Argentine male height
Also, in France the average male height stands at 179.7 and Messi does not meet this mark. In the world of football, the average height for males is 175.4 cm. Messi is not shorter than 5 feet 7 inches but does not meet the average of some countries or the sport he represents.
