Born as Lionel Andrés Messi is popularly known as Lionel Messi is an Argentine professional footballer who is the captain of the Argentina national team and is considered the best soccer player in the world.
What Is the Net Worth of Lionel Messi?
According to a report from Celebrity Net Worth, Messi’s net worth is nearly $600 million. He earned the maximum of his net worth as a striker as well as a winger for FC Barcelona.
Early Life
Lionel Messi was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Santa Fe. He is the son of Jorge Messi Celia Cuccittini. He was passionate about sport from a very young age as he grew up in a football-loving family.
He used to play continuously with his elder brothers Rodrigo and Matías, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi, the duo also became professional footballers.
When he was just 4 years old, he joined the local club Grandoli and there his father became his coach however he was majorly inspired by his maternal grandmother Celia.
Personal Life
Messi and Antonela Roccuzzo, who is a fellow native of Rosario, have been in a relationship since 2008 and the duo has known each other since their childhood. The couple has three sons together Thiago born in 2012, Mateo born in 2015 and Ciro born in 2018. Currently, he stays in Castelldefels, a village near Barcelona.
On June 2, 2012, Messi had put football under his shirt following he scored in Argentina’s 4–0 victory against Ecuador to celebrate the first pregnancy of his partner.
He also shares a close bond with his immediate family members and especially with his mother Celia and in fact, he has tattooed his mother’s face on his shoulder.
Even when it comes to his professional matters, it is majorly run as a family business with his father, Jorge, handling as his agent since he was at the age of 14, and his daily schedule and publicity is being handled by his eldest brother, Rodrigo.
His charitable organization named the Leo Messi Foundation is being looked after by his mother and another brother, Matías, and they also look after his personal as well as professional affairs in Rosario.
Apart from that, Messi has been immensely engaged in charity works which is particularly focused on underprivileged kids, this promise arises from the medical hardships that he suffered as a child.
He has given his time and funds to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) since 2004, UNICEF is an organization that has a really strong connection with Barcelona. Since his appointment in March 2010, he has worked as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
He has also participated in several campaigns by UNICEF which focused on education, HIV prevention, and many others. In November 2013, Messi and Thiago participated in a publicity campaign in order to bring awareness about mortality rates amongst underprivileged kids.
In Argentina, he has also made investments in youth football, he funds Sarmient which is a football club located in his hometown’s neighbourhood.
In 2013, he promised to provide many facilities to and also support many young players financially at Newell’s Old Boys and rival club Rosario Central, along with at River Plate and Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires.
He financed the construction of a gymnasium at Newell’s Old Boys along with a dormitory within the stadium of the club for their youth academy.
Though he has done many charitable works for those who were underprivileged, he was found guilty of evading tax and faced suspended imprisonment for 21 months along with his father and also asked to pay penalties of 1.7 million Euro and 1.4 million Euro.
While he faced the judge, he said in his defense that “I just played football. I signed the contracts because I trusted my dad and the lawyers and we had decided that they would take charge of those things.”
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020, he donated an amount of $1 million in order to assist in combating the spread of COVID-19. Apart from that, Messi along with his fellow Barcelona Football Club teammates went for a salary reduction by seventy percent amidst the coronavirus crisis.
The reason behind accepting this salary cut was to help Barcelona workers so that none of them would have to face wage cuts amidst the global pandemic.
Career
Since Messi was 17, he made his league debut against RCD Espanyol and that made him the third-youngest person in history who played for FC Barcelona. During that time, Messi was also the youngest ever player who scored for Barcelona.
During the season 2005-2006, he started getting paid as a first-team member and was also given his Spanish citizenship. Additionally, he made his debut in the Spanish First Division league.
He was given a standing ovation in his first match following scoring beside superstar Ronaldinho. Among his appearances in 17 Leagues, he scored 6 goals. He scored 1 goal in 6 for the Champions League. He became the youngest Argentine in 2006 who played and scored in the FIFA World Cup.
Following the World Cup, during the season 2006-2007, he had an injury and suffered from a broken metatarsal, and it took him 3 months to recover.
He returned in the game against Racing Santander, as a second-hand replacement. During that season in March, Messi scored a hat trick against Real Madrid and became the first player since Ivan Zamorano who did that in the El Clasico.
During the season 2007-2008, he was leading Barcelona in the top four of La Liga. As a forward, he was nominated for a FIFA ProWorld XI Player Award and he was also named as the best player in the world by the Marca newspaper.
It was followed by the other newspapers and claimed that he should be awarded the Ballon d’Or. At the age of 22, in 2009, he finally won his first and continued to win an additional 3 consecutively every year.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics, Messi also received an Olympic Gold Medal. He set the La Liga and European records for maximum goals scored in a single season in 2012 and with this, his fate was marked as Barcelona’s all-time highest scorer.
In the next 2 seasons, he was now the captain of the team for Barcelona and finished second for the Ballon d’Or behind career competitor Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi was leading Argentina in 2014 to the finals in the World Cup, and he also won the Golden Ball for that.
In 2016, he made the announcement of his retirement but he turned over his decision, and once again he led Argentina to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. They also finished third at the 2019 Copa America. He had a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or in 2019.
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