With 24 minutes gone in the Spanish league match between Real Betis and Barcelona, Lionel Messi made a menacing run into the Betis box. After a slick one-two with a teammate, he flicked his magical left ankle and whisked the ball unstoppably into the far corner. Two-nil. For five years, Messi has been scoring mesmerising goals on a weekly basis. But this one was special. With the first goal of the game, he had equalled Gerhard Muller's 30-year-old record for most goals scored in a calendar year. With the second, his 86th of 2012, he surpassed it. Lionel Messi is officially the most deadly goalscorer in footballing history. What makes this achievement even more spectacular is that, unlike Muller, Messi is not a straightforward striker. With his penetrating passes and dizzying dribbles, he is as much a creator as a finisher. As a rival once said, "Messi is on another planet". So how did he get there? It has always been clear that Messi was special. At the age of just eight he became the star player in a youth team that won minor celebrity in Argentina by losing just one game in four years. But there was a problem: Messi was tiny. When he was eleven he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiencyIn childhood and adolescence, growth is stimulated by a growth hormone known as GH. It is secreted by the pituitary gland, which is situated just below your brain. If problems in the pituitary gland prevent GH from being produced, growth can be so stunted that individuals sometimes reach only four feet or under in height. It can also cause muscular weakness, poor memory and depression. that looked set to render him frail and limit his height to little more than five feet. Daunted by the 500-per-month treatment he needed, clubs in his home country turned him down. Only Barcelona were willing to pay — so, at only 13, Messi packed his bags and moved to Spain. With Messi at their head, Barcelona have become one of the greatest teams in history. Playing a new, scintillating brand of "tiki-takaSo-called because of the pinging motion of the ball, which passes from one player to another so quickly that opponents often struggle to get a touch. Tiki-taka focuses heavily on possession and requires extremely precise technique and ball control. When it works teams often dominate matches completely. But some have criticised teams who practise it for taking too few risks." football, they have won every trophy available. Yet Messi needs his Barcelona teammates as much as they need him. Surrounded by perfect passers, he is unbeatable, but with the Argentinian national team he has struggled to make such an impact. That leaves a gaping hole in his glistening trophy cabinet: Messi has yet to win a World Cup. God's gift? Still, some say, Messi was born to footballing greatness. In videos shot when he was five years old, he is already going past defenders to score virtuoso wonder goals. Of course he has had to work hard and overcome great obstacles, but from the first moment he touched a football he was blessed with the rare and mysterious quality of genuine genius. Others are not so sure. Messi is remarkably talented, they admit; but his greatness is a matter of graft and circumstance as much as a god-given gift. If he had not stumbled upon a football club that offered him expensive treatment and surrounded him with the world's greatest coaches and players, we would not be discussing his "natural" gifts. Genius, they say, is a romantic myth. Q & A Even if he is a genius, who cares? Football's no good to anybody. If you're not a football fan that's fair enough - but this question of 'genius' goes beyond sport. How? Whichever area you are interested in — music, business, literature, fashion — there are probably some people that you think of as natural greats. But academics have recently suggested a very simple recipe for so-called 'genius': a background that offers outstanding opportunities, plus 10,000 hours of rigorous practice. Bill Gates, Lionel Messi, William Shakespeare: all of them fit this description. So anybody can be a genius? Given the opportunity, perhaps. But some object that the ability to practice a single skill devotedly for 10,000 hours itself demonstrates unusual and innate qualities — and so the debate rumbles on.KeywordsGrowth hormone deficiency - In childhood and adolescence, growth is stimulated by a growth hormone known as GH. It is secreted by the pituitary gland, which is situated just below your brain. If problems in the pituitary gland prevent GH from being produced, growth can be so stunted that individuals sometimes reach only four feet or under in height. It can also cause muscular weakness, poor memory and depression.
Magical Messi is football’s greatest goalscorer
With 24 minutes gone in the Spanish league match between Real Betis and Barcelona, Lionel Messi made a menacing run into the Betis box. After a slick one-two with a teammate, he flicked his magical left ankle and whisked the ball unstoppably into the far corner. Two-nil. For five years, Messi has been scoring mesmerising goals on a weekly basis. But this one was special. With the first goal of the game, he had equalled Gerhard Muller's 30-year-old record for most goals scored in a calendar year. With the second, his 86th of 2012, he surpassed it. Lionel Messi is officially the most deadly goalscorer in footballing history. What makes this achievement even more spectacular is that, unlike Muller, Messi is not a straightforward striker. With his penetrating passes and dizzying dribbles, he is as much a creator as a finisher. As a rival once said, "Messi is on another planet". So how did he get there? It has always been clear that Messi was special. At the age of just eight he became the star player in a youth team that won minor celebrity in Argentina by losing just one game in four years. But there was a problem: Messi was tiny. When he was eleven he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiencyIn childhood and adolescence, growth is stimulated by a growth hormone known as GH. It is secreted by the pituitary gland, which is situated just below your brain. If problems in the pituitary gland prevent GH from being produced, growth can be so stunted that individuals sometimes reach only four feet or under in height. It can also cause muscular weakness, poor memory and depression. that looked set to render him frail and limit his height to little more than five feet. Daunted by the 500-per-month treatment he needed, clubs in his home country turned him down. Only Barcelona were willing to pay - so, at only 13, Messi packed his bags and moved to Spain. With Messi at their head, Barcelona have become one of the greatest teams in history. Playing a new, scintillating brand of "tiki-takaSo-called because of the pinging motion of the ball, which passes from one player to another so quickly that opponents often struggle to get a touch. Tiki-taka focuses heavily on possession and requires extremely precise technique and ball control. When it works teams often dominate matches completely. But some have criticised teams who practise it for taking too few risks." football, they have won every trophy available. Yet Messi needs his Barcelona teammates as much as they need him. Surrounded by perfect passers, he is unbeatable, but with the Argentinian national team he has struggled to make such an impact. That leaves a gaping hole in his glistening trophy cabinet: Messi has yet to win a World Cup. God's gift? Still, some say, Messi was born to footballing greatness. In videos shot when he was five years old, he is already going past defenders to score virtuoso wonder goals. Of course he has had to work hard and overcome great obstacles, but from the first moment he touched a football he was blessed with the rare and mysterious quality of genuine genius. Others are not so sure. Messi is remarkably talented, they admit; but his greatness is a matter of graft and circumstance as much as a god-given gift. If he had not stumbled upon a football club that offered him expensive treatment and surrounded him with the world's greatest coaches and players, we would not be discussing his "natural" gifts. Genius, they say, is a romantic myth.
Keywords
Growth hormone deficiency - In childhood and adolescence, growth is stimulated by a growth hormone known as GH. It is secreted by the pituitary gland, which is situated just below your brain. If problems in the pituitary gland prevent GH from being produced, growth can be so stunted that individuals sometimes reach only four feet or under in height. It can also cause muscular weakness, poor memory and depression.
Tiki-taka - So-called because of the pinging motion of the ball, which passes from one player to another so quickly that opponents often struggle to get a touch. Tiki-taka focuses heavily on possession and requires extremely precise technique and ball control. When it works teams often dominate matches completely. But some have criticised teams who practise it for taking too few risks.
Magical Messi is football’s greatest goalscorer
Glossary
Growth hormone deficiency - In childhood and adolescence, growth is stimulated by a growth hormone known as GH. It is secreted by the pituitary gland, which is situated just below your brain. If problems in the pituitary gland prevent GH from being produced, growth can be so stunted that individuals sometimes reach only four feet or under in height. It can also cause muscular weakness, poor memory and depression.
Tiki-taka - So-called because of the pinging motion of the ball, which passes from one player to another so quickly that opponents often struggle to get a touch. Tiki-taka focuses heavily on possession and requires extremely precise technique and ball control. When it works teams often dominate matches completely. But some have criticised teams who practise it for taking too few risks.