This young man may already be the best soccer player who ever lived . Messi is at least as supreme in his era as Pele and Maradona were in theirs . His haul of club prizes is already more glittering . But to be remembered alongside them , he needs to win a World Cup , and so far , he has disappointed for his country .
Perhaps the secret to Messi ’ s greatness is that he is both an Argentine and a European player . Born in Rosario in 1987 , he grew into the perfect example of the tiny Argentine ballplayer . In fact , he was too tiny : aged 13 , he stood just 1.40 meters tall . To reach a normal height , he would need hormone treatments , costing about $ 900 a month . His steelworker father could not afford it . Luckily Barcelona was persuaded to invite him for a trial game , in which Messi scored five goals . The whole family moved to Catalonia , where every night the boy injected hormones into his feet . He grew to 1.70 metres , just big enough for professional soccer .
Barcelona turned the genius into a disciplined player , who could pass like a playmaker and even became a prodigious tackler . He also became venomously efficient : already , he has