From now until the end of time, footballers have come and gone, been remembered and forgotten, loved and hated but the legacy of Lionel Andres Messi will take centuries to fade out. And even then, at the dawn of Armageddon, some grumpy old grandpa in front of the television, will have his grandson on his one hand, a scotch on the other, and with a wave of nostalgia overpowering him, will say, ‘Son, that boy, with that left foot, was something else’. Do not be surprised if that very person would be you.
Born and raised in Argentina, Lionel Messi was born with a growth hormone deficiency. But that could hardly stall his progress in his footballing career as Barcelona then picked him up, covered all his medical expenses and brought him to La Mesia at the age of 13. Messi took a while out to carve out his own place in the team but then very quickly, everyone had begun to see that the little man, with his wavy hair and succulent dribbles, was born not just to play, but rule the football field.
The domination that Lionel Messi has had over the years, almost a decade now is almost impossible to fathom. Scoring at 0.90 goals (currently with Barcelona) over 350 odd games is something we’ve neither seen, nor heard of and probably, will never ever see again.
Of course, there will always be a question of whether Lionel Messi is the GOAT of all time or not. But it does not make sense to compare across generations so for this generation, Lionel Messi is undoubtedly, the greatest footballer to have born and graced the face of earth.
