world at messi feet

Lionel Messi’s fans are not just paying spectators. Juan Sebastián Véron says: “I see Maradona every time he grabs the ball and accelerates. But he is shy, like a little brother who likes to hang out with PlayStation rather than talk. We must protect him. I’d personally put him in a drawer of my bedside table.”

Argentinian superstar Lionel Messi is, without a shadow of a doubt, the man causing the biggest stir at this year’s Men’s Olympic Football Tournament. At the tender age of 21, the Barcelona attacking whirlwind has earned the respect and admiration of the fans, volunteers and even other competitors here at Beijing 2008. Indeed, the diminutive forward was even asked for a signed shirt by LA Lakers icon Kobe Bryant.

To add to his enviable collection of sporting souvenirsStill only 19, an age when most footballers are taking their first steps in the professional game, Lionel Messi is already an idol at one of the world’s biggest clubs. Moreover he has already won a Spanish league title, played at a FIFA World Cup™ and is widely regarded as one of the best players on planet football.

Yet for all of that, Lionel Messi has the kind of humility you would expect of a young teenager at the start of his career. Impudent and daring on the pitch, he could not be a more likeable and grounded person off of it. In spite of his enormous fame and brilliant prospects, the young Argentinian was modesty itself when he spoke recently to FIFA.com to promote the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup which takes place in Rio de Janeiro between 2-12 November 2007.