Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
Revised and updated to include Messi's record breaking 2010-2011 season and 'that' match, the 2011 Champions League Final.
Synopsis
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 Garc a, 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.
About the Author
Luca Caioli is a renowned Italian sports journalist who crafted his reputation at ITV in Britain, and as chief editor of Euronews TV in France. He settled in Spain five years ago where he is a correspondent for SKY Italia.