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    Early life

    Messi was born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Santa Fe,[12] the third of four children
    of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked
    in a magnet manufacturing workshop. On his father's side, he is of Italian and
    Spanish descent, the great-grandson of immigrants from the north-central Adriatic
    Marche region of Italy, and on his mother's side, he has primarily Italian
    ancestry.[3] Growing up in a tight-knit, football-loving family, "Leo" developed a
    passion for the sport from an early age, playing constantly with his older
    brothers, Rodrigo and Mat�as, and his cousins, Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi,
    both of whom became professional footballers.[13] At the age of four he joined
    local club Grandoli, where he was coached by his father, though his earliest
    influence as a player came from his maternal grandmother, Celia, who accompanied
    him to training and matches.[14] He was greatly affected by her death, shortly
    before his eleventh birthday; since then, as a devout Catholic, he has celebrated
    his goals by looking up and pointing to the sky in tribute to his grandmother.[15]
    [16]

    "When you saw him you would think: this kid can't play ball. He's a dwarf, he's too
    fragile, too small. But immediately you'd realise that he was born different, that
    he was a phenomenon and that he was going to be something impressive."

    � Newell's Old Boys youth coach Adri�n Coria shares his first impression of the 12-
    year-old Messi.[17]

    A lifelong supporter of Newell's Old Boys, Messi joined the Rosario club when he
    was six years old. During the six years he played for Newell's, he scored almost
    500 goals as a member of "The Machine of '87", the near-unbeatable youth side named
    for the year of their birth, and regularly entertained crowds by performing ball
    tricks during half-time of the first team's home games.[18][19] However, his future
    as a professional player was threatened when, aged 10, he was diagnosed with a
    growth hormone deficiency. As his father's health insurance covered only two years
    of growth hormone therapy, which cost at least $1,000 per month, Newell's agreed to
    contribute, but later reneged on their promise.[20] He was scouted by Buenos Aires
    club River Plate, whose playmaker Pablo Aimar he idolised.[21][22] It was
    speculated that he failed to be signed into River Plate due to his ill health,
    however in a 2019 interview, Messi revealed that the club had offered to pay for
    his medical treatment despite ultimately rejecting him.[23] His goalscoring idol
    growing up was Brazilian striker Ronaldo, with Messi calling him "the best forward
    I've ever seen".[24]

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