If you look in the right places, the secrets to Lionel Messi’s greatness reveal themselves.

Great ball players often take a moment in possession – just a half breath – to allow the picture in front of them to shift. The opposition are sucked towards the ball while runs align and space opens up.

Then: PING! Breakthrough.

In Spain, this is known as ‘la pausa’.

You could say that I had a ‘la pausa’ moment while reading Guillem Balague’s biography of Messi recently…

The thing about Lionel Messi is that it’s hard to put a finger on what separates him from the rest. Most find it elusive…

“I believe Leo comes from a marvelous planet, the one where exceptional people like violinists, architects, and doctors are created. The chosen people.” ~ Josep Maria Minguella, Messi’s former agent “Messi is the best. There must be life out there somewhere, on some other planet. Because he is too good and we are just too bad for him.” ~ Jurgen Klopp ‘The thing is… I’ve played with loads of players and Leo is something… very strange, isn’t he?’ ~ Thierry Henry “Newton and Einstein had a certain level of autism — I hope that like them, Messi surpasses himself every day and continues to give us his beautiful brand of football.” ~ Romario

“Messi is the best player ever. And this is said by someone who has seen Maradona and Pele play.” ~ Adriano Galliani “It is clear that Messi is on a level above all others. Those who do not see that are blind.” ~ Xavi

But there’s a section in Guillem Balague‘s book that runs through some anecdotes about Lionel Messi the child. These anecdotes bridge the gap between Messi, the kid from Rosario and Messi, the world’s greatest player.

We hear of joy. Of obsession. Of dedication. Of the Argentine psyche. And of raw, spectacular talent.

‘Genius’ is a complex label (which Balague tackles skillfully in the book), but still, these anecdotes hint at the extraordinary.

‘The last time I felt pressure, was as a footballer with Newell’s Old Boys when I was eight years old. From then, I come on to enjoy myself.” ~ Lionel Messi (Click to tweet)

10 Lionel Messi anecdotes, courtesy of Guillem Balague

1. Ángel Ruani (father of ex-Newell’s Old Boys player ‘Luli’ Ruani): Maybe people nowadays don’t believe it, but Leo scored about 100 goals per season in all the games we played. If we bear in mind that he came to Newell’s in 1994 and left in 2000, we are talking about more than 500 goals throughout his time with the Infantiles, which is totally outrageous.

2. Gerardo Grighini: On the Newell’s pitch, the directors would ask him to do some keepy-uppy before the game or at half-time. On one occasion, in Mar del Plata, he did keepy-uppies before the game, and fans would throw money at him, coins. Fifteen minutes would go by and he still hadn’t lost control of the ball. In Peru, I think he got up to 1,200 touches. He was nine.

3. Gabriel Digerolamo: Technically he was gifted like no boy I have ever seen. He was so good that a lot of times I changed his position so he could adapt to all aspects of playing on the pitch. On one occasion I played him as sweeper, and, yes, it looked like he had been playing there all his life.

4. Gerardo Grighini: One of the things I remember most was a tournament we played in the countryside. We went to Pujato and after 10 or 15 minutes we were 2–0 down. Leo got nervous, very nervous. With just eight or nine minutes left, he scored three goals. Just like that. The other day I was watching a game that Barcelona were losing and I said: ‘Son of a bitch, you’re getting upset!’ I recognised the face! Just like before!

5. Quique Domínguez: His opponents tried to hide the effect he had on them, but would eye him up and down with a bit of fear. He generated something inexplicable for a kid of 10 or 11 years old.

6. Diego Rovira: The conversations between the opposing defenders were wonderful: – We can’t stop this kid. – No. – So what we going to do? – How should I know? Didn’t you just say that he can’t be stopped?

7. Nestor Rozín (former director of NOB): For every 100 touches, sometimes he got an ice cream and I think he made 1,100 touches and they gave him 10 ice creams.

8. Gerardo Grighini: Once he performed five flick-overs against one player. The player threw himself to the ground and grabbed his feet! Five flick-overs, one after the other. On top of that he was 1.40 metres, while the other boy was 1.70.

9. Gerardo Grighini: Leo was also very strong. Lots of people would throw themselves at him to try to bring him down, but he was strong, he took it. He fell, he got up, he fell again, and he got up again. Incredible. If any of us fell, we stayed down. And probably started to complain. But not him, he fell and still carried on with the ball. I don’t know where that comes from, one in a million must come out like that.

10. Adrián Coria: Ball against the wall, and again, and again … they used to say to him: ‘we love this wall, we look after it, we paint it, we try to avoid getting it dirty, you know? Calm down, you will be playing soon, take a breather’, and him: bang, bang, bang. Another coach said to me, ‘there’s no way of stopping this boy, he spends all day playing and he wants to play when the sun has gone down. And with no lights. When everybody is asleep.’

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Bonus: Introducing The Guillem Balague Messi Playlist

In the book, Balague references a handful of significant Messi YouTube videos.

Here’s ten for you.

1. Messi playing at 5 years old

2. Messi adidas advert – Nothing Is Impossible

3. Early Messi Mastercard advert – Remember My Name

4. Messi’s first goal for Argentina

5. Messi’s performance vs. Juventus, Joan Gamper trophy, 2005

6. Messi’s Champions League hat-trick vs. Arsenal

7. Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid

8. Young Messi – Nike Advert

9. Messi skills and goals in La Masia

10. Messi never dives

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