Messi – 2013 Edition : The Inside Story of the Boy Who Became a Legend

Still only 24, Lionel Messi is on course to become the greatest soccer player of all time. The 2009 and 2010 FIFA Player of the Year, he is fast, elusive, and mesmerizing. Nominated by Maradona as successor to his No. 10 Argentina shirt, he is already set for football divinity. Luca Caioli draws on numerous exclusive testimonies to tell Messi's story: his parents and extended family; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell's Old Boys; Rjikaard and Zambrotta from Barcelona; Jorge Valdano and many others from Argentina, Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and ex-Chelsea defender Asier del Horno. In the final chapter Messi himself sizes up his life so far. Updated to include the 2011 Champions League Final, when everyone, including the opposition, applauded Messi and his team, Messi is a brilliant, insightful and revealing portrait of football's most exciting player and a must-read for all true fans of the game. El Pibe de Oro. The Golden Boy. Diego Maradona's unwaning shadow looms large over world football. In 2007 the brilliant Argentine chose Lionel Messi as his successor to the famous No. 10 shirt. But you can never be sure that potential will be fulfilled. Three years later, Messi – El Pulga, the Flea – is a European Champion, Olympic Gold Medallist, the most naturally gifted footballer on the planet and a hero to millions of fans across the globe. Champions, reporters and coaches blunder time and time again in their haste to find superstars. This time they got it right. Aged only 22, he shows a degree of maturity rarely seen on the soccer pitch. Yet underneath the layers of footballing brilliance, he is still the shy boy who describes his Maradona moment with disarming simplicity:'I saw the gap and I went for it.'Transcending both club and country, he is a sporting god who prefers homemade cookies to brand name perfumes. Author Luca Caioli draws on exceptional testimonies. Messi's parents, Celia and Jorge, his bother Rodrigo and his uncles and aunts; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell's Old Boys; Charly Rexach, Alex García, Frank Rjikaard, Gianluca Zambrotta from Barcelona; Hugo Tocalli, Pancho Ferrero, el Coco Basile, Roberto Perfumo from Argentina. And to conclude, Leo Messi himself sizes up his life so far.

Still only 24, Lionel Messi is on course to become the greatest soccer player of all time. The 2009 and 2010 FIFA Player of the Year, he is fast, elusive, and mesmerizing. Nominated by Maradona as successor to his No. 10 Argentina shirt, he is already set for football divinity.

Luca Caioli draws on numerous exclusive testimonies to tell Messi's story: his parents and extended family; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell's Old Boys; Rjikaard and Zambrotta from Barcelona; Jorge Valdano and many others from Argentina, Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and ex-Chelsea defender Asier del Horno. In the final chapter Messi himself sizes up his life so far.

Updated to include the 2011 Champions League Final, when everyone, including the opposition, applauded Messi and his team, Messi is a brilliant, insightful and revealing portrait of football's most exciting player and a must-read for all true fans of the game.

"Still only 24, Lionel Messi is on course to become the greatest soccer player of all time. The 2009 and 2010 FIFA Player of the Year, he is fast, elusive, and mesmerizing. Nominated by Maradona as successor to his No. 10 Argentina shirt, he is already set for football divinity. Luca Caioli draws on numerous exclusive testimonies to tell Messi's story: his parents and extended family; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell's Old Boys; Rjikaard and Zambrotta from Barcelona; Jorge Valdano and many others from Argentina, Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and ex-Chelsea defender Asier del Horno. In the final chapter Messi himself sizes up his life so far. Updated to include the 2011 Champions League Final, when everyone, including the opposition, applauded Messi and his team, is a brilliant, insightful and revealing portrait of football's most exciting player and a must-read for all true fans of the game."--Provided by the publisher Still only 24, Lionel Messi is on course to become the greatest soccer player of all time. The 2009 and 2010 FIFA Player of the Year, he is fast, elusive, and mesmerizing. Nominated by Maradona as successor to his No. 10 Argentina shirt, he is already set for football divinity.Luca Caioli draws on numerous exclusive testimonies to tell Messi's story: his parents and extended family; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell's Old Boys; Rjikaard and Zambrotta from Barcelona; Jorge Valdano and many others from Argentina, Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and ex-Chelsea defender Asier del Horno. In the final chapter Messi himself sizes up his life so far.Updated to include the 2011 Champions League Final, when everyone, including the opposition, applauded Messi and his team, __Messi__ is a brilliant, insightful and revealing portrait of football's most exciting player and a must-read for all true fans of the game. Lionel Messi is a mesmerising talent who has continued to astound the world of football ever since assuming his role at the heart of a star-studded Barcelona side in 2004. Overcoming a career-threatening growth hormone deficiency, he has won almost everything there is to win, including an unprecedented four FIFA Ballons d'Or. Luca Caioli draws on numerous exclusive testimonies to tell Messi's story, including his parents and extended family, his coaches, those who have played alongside him and even Messi himself. Messi is a revealing portrait of football's most unassuming superstar, updated to include the dramatic 2013/14 season and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in which his match-winning performances finally began to win over his harshest critics - his fellow countrymen. A fully updated edition of Luca Caioli's popular biography of possibly the best footballer ever. Still only 24, Lionel Messi is on course to become the greatest footballer of all time. The 2009 and 2010 FIFA Player of the Year, he is fast, elusive, and mesmerising.Luca Caioli draws on numerous exclusive testimonies to tell Messi's story including his parents and extended family, his coaches, and people who have played alongside him. In the final chapter Messi himself sizes up his life so far.Messi is a revealing portrait of soccer's most exciting player, updated to include the 2011 Champions League Final, when everyone, including the opposition, applauded Messi and his team. football,barcelona,biography The 2009 FIFA Player of the Year and European Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi is fast, elusive, mesmerising. This title tells Messi's story: his parents and extended family; his coaches at Grandoli and Newell's Old Boys; and, Jorge Valdano and many others from Argentina, Manchester City's Pablo Zabaleta and ex-Chelsea defender Asier del Horno Chronicles the life of the Argentinian soccer player through interviews with his family as well as his coaches and teammates throughout the years