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Messi: The Must-Read Biography of the World Cup Champion - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Messi: The Must-Read Biography of the World Cup Champion

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'I have seen the player who will inherit my place in Argentine football and his name is Messi' Diego Maradona

FULLY UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE 2022 WORLD CUP TRIUMPH & MESSI'S TRANSFER TO INTER MIAMI

As Lionel Messi raised the World Cup triumphantly into the air, the world watched on in awe. Messi's final peak conquered; his final dream achieved. It was the fairy tale ending to a glittering career. Yet despite delivering Argentina their third World Cup, Messi's time at Paris Saint-Germain came to a dramatic conclusion, and Miami awaited the Argentinian legend.

Guillem Balagué has had unprecedented access to Messi's inner circle including the player himself: his coaches, team-mates and family. From tracing the origins of Messi's precocious talent in Rosario, Argentina, to chronicling his peerless seventeen-season career at Barcelona, and his tumultuous Parisian adventure, Guillem takes us behind-the-scenes of Messi's World Cup triumph and his long-desired move to the MLS. This is an epic, authoritative and compelling account of an enigmatic footballing genius.

'I can tell my grandkids one day that I coached Lionel Messi' Pep Guardiola

ISBN-13: 9781399619134

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Seven Dials

Publication Date: 02-20-2024

Pages: 736

Guillem Balague is a Spanish football journalist, prizewinning author and pundit, first for Sky Sports and now for BBC Radio 5 Live. He is the author of A SEASON ON THE BRINK - A PORTRAIT OF RAFA BENITEZ'S LIVERPOOL (2006); the first biography of PEP GUARDIOLA (2012); MESSI (2013); CRISTIANO RONALDO (2015), the Football Book of the Year at the Cross Sports Book Awards; and the bestselling Brave New World - INSIDE POCHETTINO'S SPURS (2017). He is chairman of non-league Biggleswade FC, and lives in Hitchin in Hertfordshire. http://www.guillembalague.com/en/home https://twitter.com/GuillemBalague https://www.facebook.com/guillembalague

Table of Contents

Foreword Alejandro Sabella, Argentina National Team Manager ix

Introduction 1

Part 1 In Rosario

1 'Pass it, Leo!' But He Never Did 23

2 Waiting for Leo 61

3 Goodbye, Leo 105

Part 2 In Barcelona

1 Landing in Barcelona. Well, in Rosario. That Is, in Barcelona 125

2 Making His Way

3 Becoming a Champion

4 Frank Rijkaard: The Rise

5 Frank Rijkaard: The Decline

6 Leo Is not a Natural-born Genius. Nobody Is 326

7 Dealing with Maradona 375

Part 3 At The Peak

1 Breaking Records 427

2 Where Is Leo Heading? 541

3 Alejandro Sabella 594

4 Thiago: The Definitive 10 605

Afterword Sandro Rosell, President of FC Barcelona 611

Dramatis Personae 614

Bibliography 616

Acknowledgements 619

Index 622