Top 30 Facts about Leo Messi.

As the world celebrates Leo Messi's 30th birthday, here we bring to you the top 30 facts about the greatest gift world football ever had.

1. Luis Lionel Andres Messi, or simply Leo Messi, was born in Rosario, Argentina. He shares his birthplace with the Argentine revolutionary Che Guevera.
2. Although born in Argentina, his parents are of Italian origin. His father worked at a local steel factory and also managed a local football team.
3. Messi was not healthy and nutritious in his childhood days. He had Growth Hormone deficiency. Although his parents started his treatment, they had to stop it due to financial reasons, which was $900 per month.
4. At the age of five, Messi started playing for the Grandoli, a local club managed by his father. By the time he turned eight, he was playing for Newell's Old Boys, a team which just lost a single match in the next four years after Leo joined them.
5. As mentioned earlier, Leo had growth hormone deficiency and no club was willing to pay for his treatment. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, spotted him and came to his aid. He promised to help Leo in treatment if he moved to Spain.
6. Mr. Rexach was impressed by Leo by watching his video of juggling tennis balls and apples.
7. He was so impressed that he made a contract with Leo on a piece of tissue paper due to the absence of official paperwork, because he feared that he may lose the talented Leo just because of paperworks.
8. His family moved to Spain when Leo was 13, without any job or money in hand.
9. Messi's career kickstarted in 2000, when he started playing for junior system ranks. Within a short period, he becase the only player to play for 5 different teams.
10. Messi made his Barcelona debut at the age of 17 against RCD Espanyol, a fixture famous as the "Barcelona Derby"
11. Leo scored his first senior team goal against Albacete on 1st May 2005, with a double-chip shot, assisted by the great Ronaldinho.
12. He became the youngest ever to score for FC Barcelona in a La Liga game.
13. Messi received his Spanish citizenship in September 2005, which finally made it possible for him to play in the Champions' League.
14. Leo made his UCL debut against the Italian club Udinese as a substitute.
15. Leo was offered a place in the Spanish national team, but he didn't accept it.
16. His international debut for Argentina was against Hungary at the age of 18. His debut lasted for a mere 47 seconds only, after getting sent off by the referee.
17. Leo's action is strikingly similar to another Argentine legend Maradona, which resulted him to be lebelled as "Messidona".
18. Messi is the sixth youngest to score in a world cup game.
19. Messi won the Olympic gold medal in the 2008 Beijing olympics.
20. Between his contracts and endorsments, Leo makes $128000 per day.
21. Messi was the goodwill ambassador of UNICEF in 2010.
22. In 2012, Messi found the back of the net 91 times, surprussing Gerd Muller's tally of 85 goals. It resulted in a contract renewal with FC Barcelona till 2018.
23. Messi had known his girl friend Antonella Roccuzzo since when he was 5 years old.
24. Messi was the part of the teams which won 2 trebles in 2009 and 2015, which also includes a win in six out of six competitions in a calender year (in 2015)
25. Messi is the first player to win four Ballon d'Or, which he won consecutively. He has won 5 Ballon d'Ors in total.
26. Messi has a tatto of his mother on his left shoulder.
27. Talking of tattos, he also has tattoes of his child Thiago's name and hand-print on his left calf.
28. Desprite his fame, he maintains a close connection with the people of Rosario. He is also the international ambassador of Rosario.
29. Messi was a part of the team which played the historic match at the Yubabharati Krirangan in Kolkata. The whole city cheered for him, right from the moment he landed in the city.
30. Talking about trophies, oh c'mon, you know them all.. check out this famous pic from the internet..