MESSI - Knopf

Admired around the globe for his athleticism, skill, and fierce competitiveness, Leo Messi has already shattered scoring records at FC Barcelona and won numerous club trophies and international awards, including ? for an unprecedented three years in a row ? the title of the world's best player. Relying on original interviews with Messi, his friends and family, his teammates, and even his favorite butcher, Argentine journalist Leonardo Faccio tells the story of this enigmatic athletic genius. Faccio offers new details about how, as a youth, Messi had to leave his home in Buenos Aires for Spain in search of the medical help his family could not afford. Faccio takes us inside Barcelona's famed La Masia youth academy, where Messi developed into a professional. Faccio also describes the pressures and demands placed on the modern soccher star, including Messi's struggles on Argentina's national team, and the exhausting schedule of games, publicity appearances, and commercials that is the lot of a global star.