The Flea – Lionel Messi                         

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Welcome to Spotlight.  I’m Colin Lowther.

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And I’m Alice Irizarry.  Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.  It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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The score was even.  It was late in the game.  He was running out of time.  This was his last chance to win the only title he had not won.  He had come close but failed in the past.  His career was almost over.  He had to do something.  He needed to score one more goal.  He needed one more special moment to lift his country to the World Cup championship.

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Today’s Spotlight is about Lionel Messi.  We look at his struggles growing up in Argentina.  We examine his rise through youth football.  We talk about his accomplishments as the top football player in the world.  We discuss his career-long pursuit of the World Cup championship.

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Football is often called “The Beautiful Game.”  It combines strategy, a constantly changing field, and teamwork.  The players’ athletic abilities are impressive.  They often look like ballet dancers as they run and jump.  Each team must kick the ball back and forth to each other.  The players cannot touch the ball with their hands.  Each team must keep the ball from the other while moving toward the goal.  If they can kick the ball into the other team’s goal, they get a point.  The team that finishes the game with the most points wins.

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Lionel Messi grew up in Rosario, Argentina.  He was smaller than other boys.  When Messi was eight years old, doctors discovered he had Growth Hormone Disorder.  His brain did not make enough of the chemicals that told his body to grow.  Messi’s parents started injecting him with medicine to help him overcome the disorder.  The treatment cost a lot of money.  It was difficult for his parents to afford. 

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Thankfully, Messi’s skills as a young football player were improving.  The football club, Newell’s Old Boys, offered to pay for some of his treatment if Messi played football for them.  As he continued to play better, the Spanish club Barcelona offered to pay for all his medical treatment if he played for their youth school, La Masia.  Messi and his family decided to accept the offer and move to Barcelona.  The team paid for all his remaining treatments until he finished at the age of fourteen. 

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Messi had a hard time when they moved to Barcelona.  His new teammates teased him because he was so short.  Also, Messi did not speak Catalan, the language of Barcelona.  He spoke Spanish.  Messi said:

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“My teammates were big, rough, and kind of mean.  They did not pay attention to me.  They spoke Catalan among themselves.  I cried a lot.  I would lock myself in my room and cry secretly.  I did not want my dad to find out.”

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Despite the hard change, Messi played well at the school.  He continued improving his skills.  He was very good at dribbling the ball.  Dribbling is when a player kicks the ball around the field.  Messi was great at dribbling the ball around defenders.  He was very fast.  He could run faster while kicking the ball than most defenders could run.  He had grown to 170 cm.  He was still smaller than most of the other players.  But Messi used it to his advantage.  His smaller size allowed him to slip by defenders.  He also had great balance.  If a defender bumped him, he kept going.  They nicknamed him “The Flea” because he was so quick and hard to catch. 

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While he was still in youth football, Messi helped Argentina win the International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA, World Youth Championship.  At the age of seventeen he turned professional.  He joined Barcelona’s senior team, FC Barcelona.  Over the next few years, he became the best player on the team.  Barcelona named him captain.  He set the record for the most goals scored in a season.  He won the Ballon d’Or, or Golden Ball, as the best player in football four straight seasons.  When he was only 24 he became Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer.  Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players Messi faced during his career, said:

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“Messi is the best I have played against.”

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But there was another player who challenged Messi even more than Ronaldo.  He was the hardest person for Messi to beat.  And he did not even play against Messi.  He stopped playing six years before Messi turned professional.  His name was Diego Maradona.  Maradona was a hero in Argentina.  He led Argentina to the World Cup title in 1986.  The World Cup is the biggest soccer tournament.  It is held every four years.  Only the top thirty-two national teams from around the world attend.  Maradona was the last person to lead Argentina to the World Cup championship.  He was small and quick like Messi.  He was a great dribbler, too. 

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When Messi turned professional, Argentinians expected that he would lead the national team to the World Cup championship.  Everyone compared him to Maradona.  They thought Messi would have success at the World Cup just like Maradona.  But it did not happen.  Messi played very well in each World Cup tournament.  But Argentina did not win.  He was even named the best player in the tournament one year even though Argentina lost.  Messi played in four World Cups and reached the final game one year.  But Argentina lost to Germany. 

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Messi had a very successful professional career.  He won a record eight Ballon d’Or awards. FIFA named him the world’s best player eight times.  He won many league titles with FC Barcelona.  He holds the record for the most goals scored for one club.  But he could not win the World Cup championship like Maradona.  Some said he would never be better than Maradona without winning the World Cup.   

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When Messi was thirty-five years old, he played in his fifth World Cup.  Many said he was not at his best anymore.  He was too old.  They said he was not as quick.  But they were wrong.  In Argentina’s first six matches, Messi scored five goals.  He helped lead Argentina to the final match against France.  France was led by a young star named Mbappé.  The match was close.  It was tied with time running out.  One of Messi’s teammates kicked the ball towards France’s goal.  The goalkeeper blocked the shot.  But Messi instantly kicked the ball again into the goal to give Argentina the lead.  But France did not give up.  They tied the game.

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When no one else was able to score, the teams had a shootout.  A shootout decides the winner of a match that ends in a draw.  Each team selects players to take turns trying to kick the ball past the goalkeeper.  Whichever team makes the most goals wins the game.  In the shootout, Messi and his teammates made their first four shots into the goal.  But France’s players missed two of their attempts.  Argentina won and Messi finally had his World Cup championship.  For the tournament, Messi scored a total of seven goals, assisted in three more goals, and was awarded the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament.  He is the only player to win the FIFA World Cup Golden Ball twice.  Not even Maradona did it.

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Many people once considered Lionel Messi too small to play football.  They did not believe he could compete with stronger players.  He would get hurt.  He would not survive.  But they underestimated Messi’s bravery.  They did not know how much he loved playing football.  Now many think Messi is the greatest football player ever.           

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Do you play or watch football?  Have you ever seen Lionel Messi play football?  Who do you think is the best football player ever?  You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com.  You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Tiktok, Bluesky and X.  You can also get our programs delivered directly to your Android or Apple device through our free official Spotlight English app.

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The writer of this program was Peter Anderson.  The producer was Michio Ozaki.  The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States.  All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is called, “The Flea – Lionel Messi.”

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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:

Do you play or watch football?  Have you ever seen Lionel Messi play football?  Who do you think is the best football player ever?