Messi - Simple Past or Past Perfect

Wembley Stadium, London, 28^th May 2011, the 54^th minute of the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United – and the ball, again, was with Lionel Messi, this time about 25 metres from the United goal. United players had been sticking to him like limpets before, but now, losing concentration for a moment, they gave him a couple of metres of space. They shouldn’t have: a dart forward, a fierce shot, and Messi had scored Barcelona’s crucial second goal in what would eventually be a 3–1 victory.  And so Messi won his third Champions League winners’ medal, to add to two FIFA World Player of the Year awards. Not bad for someone still only 23 years old.

Most football experts say Messi has the potential to become the best footballer of all time – a title they usually give either to the Brazilian Pelé (who played at the highest level from the late 1950s to the early 70s) or the Argentinian Diego Maradona (late 70s to mid-90s). Some have even suggested he is already the greatest ever.

As a boy in Argentina doctors diagnosed Messi with growth hormone deficiency and they believed he might not grow taller than 1.5 metres. His parents could not afford the expensive hormone treatment the doctors recommended, so they desperately hoped a major football club, seeing his potential, would sign him and agree to pay for it. That is exactly what happened when, in 2000, the 13-year-old Messi flew to Spain to have a trial with Barcelona. The coach watching the trial was so amazed that he wanted Messi to join the club immediately, but he didn’t have a contract for him to sign. In fact, he didn’t even have a piece of paper. The solution? Messi’s first contract with Barcelona was written on a napkin.