Lionel Messi is possibly the best soccer player in the world. He has won the B’lon Dor three times in 2009, 2010, 2011 and has played for the FC Barcelona club for years winning La Liga five times and the Champions League three times while he was there.
His honors and successes are substantial and have a lot to say about him as a player, but today we are going to delve into Messi’s life to talk about his behavior and open up a more intimate conversation about the youngster.
He is not very outspoken, nor is he very loud or bossy when interviewed. He seems more withdrawn when he is in public and speaks very softly. To understand why this is so you have to go back and look at his history and beginnings in his training camp at La Masia in Spain.
The Argentine caught the attention of scouts from an early age. He then he was a child. He was recruited and sent from Argentina leaving his family and friends behind. When he first came to La Masia to train, he was described as very quiet and shy, often indicating the parents’ longing for him. The first years at La Masia were very hard for him since he was not in the same boat as the other players because his family was not very close to him from a distance. Most of the other children were from Spain, but they were very supportive and did their best to cultivate and nurture the growing Argentine.
He grew up playing football and it is his relaxation and also his job. Soccer is not a job for him, it’s just what he does in the game. As he got older, he continues to play.
The atmosphere of La Masia invites humility. They never try to make money or fame an important aspect of life, but instead go to great lengths to create an environment that allows a player to grow whole. Going to school together and learning together. Part of the reason is because at La Masia you earn respect through humility. The director of the Academy, Carles Folguera, said: “… you can be humble if your environment is, but it is difficult”. At La Masia they foster a lot of camaraderie. Folguera also stated, “…the most important qualities for the boys is camaraderie and humility.” It seems that this has been instilled in them at La Masia as part of their player creation process.
Coming from a poor background of a father who was a steel worker and a mother who was a cleaner, the Argentine had a lot to be thankful for at La Masia. His former coach Guardiola was very happy to be at La Masia at the age of 13 because it was a very organized establishment that “helped me grow” and had “very good food”. From this you can see that there were good memories in La Masia, it is a place where your needs are taken care of and coming from a poor family, you have a lot to be thankful for, like having a good place to learn, play and train and also have good food to eat. . Apart from that, there are 75 members of staff at La Masia, including doctors and coaches, to help with the needs of the players as they grow. These all-inclusive associates help develop a more balanced personality that doesn’t need to feed on fame or fortune to feel appreciated and respected since “family” has already ensured and taken care of all their needs. All you have to do is play.
Messi still idolizes other players. His favorite soccer player that he followed when he grew up was Pablo Aimar, someone he used to watch videos of and try to imitate his skills. To this day he continues to idolize this man, someone Messi has beaten in terms of achievement records. At the age of 23, a television program interviewed Pablo Aimar about his thoughts on Lionel Messi and played the recording of the interview with Lionel Messi as he watched in amazement and silent joy. This shows that he is still a young person inside, someone who still adheres to those feelings and emotions that he had as a child.
So as you can see, La Masia never quenched a person’s need to hide their individuality and childishness. There are other things that are more important for La Masia, such as respect through humility that brings out a different and very docile, humble and respectful person when they graduate from the program. Lionel Messi is just one of many very complete and likeable players who graduated to play for Barcelona and other teams.
