Lionel Messi Speech

Luis Lionel Andres Messi (“Lionel Messi”) is one of, if not, the most popular soccer player in the world. Born on June 24 1987, Messi was the youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona. At the age of 16, Messi made his first appearance for FC Barcelona. Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina and moved to Spain at the age of 13 where he was offered the chance to train at FC Barcelona’s youth academy.

At a young age, Messi was diagnosed with hormone deficiency which restricted his growth. Shorter than most of the kids at his age, Messi showed great talent and skills which put him in front of many organizations; one of which was Barcelona. Many organizations showed interest in him but due to his condition, little to no one wanted to pay for
As the years went by, Messi kept improving and broke multiple records and set new standards. He led Barcelona to multiple victories and has won many domestic and international championship games. He has almost every title that counts, some of which includes Spanish Super Cup, FIFA World Cup, FIFA Ballon D’or, and an Olympic gold medal. All this success has made Messi a very wealthy man. Under his current contract, Messi received a $59.6 million signing bonus and a confirmed buyout clause of $835
To some people Messi is seen and loved as god which can cause people to go crazy for him. His upbringing and background helps him connect with people off the field. His challenges and obstacles in life gives people hope that if he was able to overcome such challenges so can they. He generally stays out of trouble with the law, his peers, and in other matters which helped him create a good character image. This does not mean that he is not surrounded with controversies. In 2016 it was revealed to the world that Messi was hiding money from the Spanish government and not paying his tax obligations. For all the wrongs Messi might’ve committed in his career, at least he’s never ended up in jail. However, in June of 2016 he was close to a prison sentence if it were not for Spanish laws stating that non-violent, first-time offenders given short sentences can serve their sentence under probation. For a period of two years – 2007 to 2009- Messi defrauded the Spanish tax authorities for approximately £3.19m. He used tax havens in other countries to find his sponsorship income from companies like Coca-Cola and Adidas. He was sentenced to 21 months on probation but no prison time. To most athletes or people in general, this would be devastating to their career and public image but not for