Some interesting facts about Lionel Messi

It doesn't matter if you're a football fanatic or not, we promise that these 15 facts about one of the world's most famous footballers will impress you. The Argentine footballer who plays for the Spanish club FC Barcelona and captains both the Argentina national team and FC Barcelona is a legend in the sport. So let's get to know him better!

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Let's start with the facts which is usually not known by everyone:

1- Born on June 24th, 1987 with naturally blonde hair, Lionel Messi had to dye his hair black because he was teased in school for looking like Tom Cruise. He even had a lifetime contract with Clairol as a spokesmodel until he was 18 years old, being named "The Blonde One".

2- His career started at Newell's Old Boys, where he was part of the youth team, before signing a contract with FC Barcelona later in the year. He made his professional debut for Barça on 20 October 2004 against Albacete Balompié.

3- During his time at Barça's youth team, Messi was part of the first squad during an away game against Real Zaragoza for La Liga. On September 25th, 2005, Messi scored his first goal in senior football in a game against Racing de Santander with a special effort from outside the box, becoming the youngest player to accomplish that feat (at 19 years and 99 days).

4- He is considered the best active player in the world by FIFA. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was also named the best player in Europe for 4 years in a row.

5- He has his own theme song at Camp Nou, called "A Messi", which can be heard every time he scores a goal when he comes on or off the pitch, and even during celebrations for other goals.

6- He has scored 91 goals from free-kicks in his career so far (tallied up to 6 October 2016). This makes him the most efficient free-kick scorer in football history. He has also scored more goals from free-kicks than any other team in the world.

7- To date, he is Barça's youngest player to ever debut for their first team and has won the most Ballon d'Ors among players under 23 years of age.

8- He became the highest-earning soccer player in the world twice, raking in $72.7 million (€62 million) in 2014 and $81.4 million (€73 million) in 2015. He is also the only soccer player to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine.

9- Lionel Messi scored his first-ever international goal on August 17th, 2005 against Hungary. Shortly after, he became the youngest player to score two international goals as well.

10- While he was still a teenager, Lionel Messi became his nation's youngest captain in history when he took over for Diego Maradona and led Argentina in three games during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. In 2016 Barcelona won their second UEFA Champions League trophy when they beat Italian powerhouse Juventus 4-1 in what some claim was Messi's greatest performance ever.

11- Messi is the first player to have won 5 FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He also won the award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015.

12- He also won the Golden Ball as the best player in both 2010 and 2011 as both he and Cristiano Ronaldo were named in the final three. He was also awarded for best goal in 2010 and 2011 both scored against Manchester United.

13- On May 28th, 2017, Messi became only the second player to have played 1000 international games when he captained Argentina in a qualifier against Ecuador, making it his 1000th professional game.

14- Rumor has it that Messi is so popular in Barcelona that there's a mature lady from the UK who travels to Spain to watch him play in person every weekend. She admits that she considers him her boyfriend, but won't marry him because he does not have a passport.

15- The Argentine is also a big hit off the field as he was featured on the cover of Vogue Hommes International, and was named the world's second best-dressed man by GQ. He also has his own clothing line called MESSI which was launched recently.

Some Other Facts

# The word "Messi" means "messenger" in Spanish, which is a reference to the Islamic prophet.

# He left Argentina for Spain at age of 13 so that he could play professionally in Europe.

# After scoring his first international goal for Argentina against Croatia on October 11, 2005, Messi became the youngest player ever to score a goal for Argentina. Lionel Messi was just 17 years and 114 days old when he scored for Argentina.

# He won La Liga twice with Barcelona, as well as four Copa Del Rey titles and four UEFA Champions League titles with them too. As well as this he has also won a Uefa Super Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal with the Argentinian National Team in 2008.

# He was named the Spanish Player of the Year in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Also in 2011, he became the youngest player ever to be chosen as La Liga's Best Player.

# At just 14 years and 24 days old he became Barcelona's youngest-ever league debutant when he came on in a game against RCD Espanyol on October 16, 2004. Messi is also Barcelona's youngest-ever goal-scorer (in all competitions) at 17 years and 179 days old when he scored against Albacete Balompié on October 17, 2004.

# On June 27, 2012, Messi scored his 300th La Liga goal against Athletic Bilbao. This made him the third most prolific goalscorer in La Liga history. Only Ronaldo and Telmo Zarra have been better.

# He became the youngest player (17 years and 188 days) to appear in a FIFA World Cup final by being on the pitch for Argentina's 1-0 loss to Germany at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, 2014.

# He became Barcelona's all-time leading goalscorer when he scored his 222nd Barcelona goal against Real Zaragoza on November 29, 2010.

# He has become the most prolific goalscorer in the history of La Liga, with 208 goals.

# He was awarded a star on the Argentina Walk of Fame in 2009.

# Even though he is not old enough to drink alcohol he uses a Spanish cava label called "Mein Vino" which is co-owned by his father and sisters.