is more to it than pure talent. Champions Matchday magazine reveals
the keys to his success.
Never underestimate the power of mum's cooking. At the start of Luca
Caioli's biography of Lionel Messi, the player's mother, Celia,
describes his favourite dish – schnitzel napolitana. "When I go to
Barcelona I have to make it two or three times a week," she says.
"With at least three medium-sized cuts of beef. I tell him: 'My
schnitzel napolitana and mymate[traditional Argentinian tea] are what
make you score so many goals.' "
Food has undoubtedly played a part in Messi's development – one youth
coach promised young Lionel analfajor, a traditional caramel-filled
biscuit, every time he scored – but diet alone cannot be credited for
the 74 goals which make him the European Cup's all-time leading
scorer. Those are thanks to a combination of innate talent, genetics
and collected wisdom.
Dribbling
"The second it came to his left foot, he latched onto it and went past
one boy, then another and another," says former Grandoli FC youth
coach Salvador Ricardo Aparicio, recalling the first time he saw a
four-year-old Messi. "He was terrified someone would hurt him but he
kept going and going. I don't remember if he scored the goal – I had
never seen anything like it."
Fast-forward two decades and Messi is exchanging a one-two with Sergio
Busquets at the Santiago Bernabéu. From just past the centre circle,
he skips past four Real Madrid CF players, veering right, and squeezes
the ball between Iker Casillas's right boot and the inside of the far
post. This time his opponents are not older boys playing for his local
team, but FC Barcelona's greatest rivals in the first leg of their
2011 UEFA Champions League semi-final.
"I don't think on the pitch," Messi said at the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or
gala. "I don't plan any of the dribbling I do. It just comes out."
Roberto Perfumo, the former Argentina defender turned television
commentator, says his compatriot has "physical thinking" – the ability
for his legs to act immediately as a thought enters his head. "He is
mind and body," says Perfumo, "all at the same time."
That, combined with a sensational touch honed playing 'piggy in the
middle', foot-tennis and games where the first one to score six wins
with his brothers and cousins, contributes to the incredible pace at
which he moves with the ball. Messi is one of a handful of players who
can travel as quickly with the ball as without. Size also plays a
part. "He left behind all the big boys who didn't have good control or
movement and coordination," says Adrián Coria, the ex-CA Newell's Old
Boys youth coach. Dribbling was not a skill Messi had to learn
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