20

Dec

2009

Prophet in a foreign land: Lionel Messi's identity conundrum PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Juan Arango   

Lionel Messi is a unique story outside of what he does on the pitch. People were bracing for his arrival onto the world football scene since he was 11 years old.  When he arrived he was one of those players that was ready to change the face of the game forever.  He was going to go beyond establishing himself as one of those players that was going to mark a generation and eventually sit among the football gods.

He was going to mark the game forever. He was going to be transcendental.  One of those players that would shine on any team in any moment in history.  His Hollywood movie script was already written.  There was just one problem... he didn´t want to go by it.

A victim of circumstance?  A child of globalization? A stroke of luck?

Well yeah, a little of all that and the some.  As a child he stood out because of his size and talent.  He was the smallest kid every time he stepped on those dirt pitched in Rosario yet he was bigger than all them in terms of natural talent and technical ability.  Let's be honest, when Barcelona saw what that pre-teen from Rosario did from the time  he was five and confirmed everything that his youth coach said about him...

 

...they immediately saw this...

 

 

  There were tall tales about what  that diminutive little boy was doing and there was no way that Barcelona was not going to have him in his ranks.  As soon as River Plate gave the thumbs down because of growth hormone issue, Barcelona went after this little boy despite there being resistance and a greater immediate necessity.  Yet as soon as they saw him all of the immediate necessities didn't matter anymore.  He was going to be the future of the game.   From pre-contract letters on napkins to promises to help out with his hormone treatments, Barcelona were not going to let this young man go.

Continue reading at Miami Soccer Examiner...


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