Messi: The Boy Who Needed Daily Hormone Injections Became the Greatest Footballer Ever

Messi was born with a growth hormone deficiency — he needed daily growth hormone injections. The reason is because he looked much smaller than his age mates and often got bullied for it. As a young lad, I would call him brave and a miracle. However, Messi was so in love with football, and his beloved grandma usually took him to watch football.

During a medical checkup, Messi was diagnosed with delayed growth. The results were growth hormone deficiency, also called stunted growth. As an adult, he might not grow past 1.5 meters tall.

This was a blow to the family, and his father had just lost his job and could not afford to pay the bills. Messi was only worried about whether he could still play football. From age ten, Messi showed incredible strength and never complained about the pain from the injections to his parents. With the doctors' support, Messi gradually grew up, but things did not improve — Argentina also fell into an economic crisis, which made things more difficult for his father. However, his father placed hope on two clubs, hoping they would sign him and cover his treatment because they admired him. But they refused after learning about his condition. His father visited major clubs around Argentina, but nobody wanted to invest in an unknown future or a sick child.

But a club from Spain sent Messi an invitation because his father sent football footage of Messi to Barcelona. After watching the footage, the sporting director immediately called — they offered Messi a trial and signed a paper contract. Barcelona offered to pay Messi’s medical expenses. At just 13 years old, Messi became a professional player back at Barcelona. Messi’s teammates often joked about his height, but Messi was introverted about it. At 16, Messi was promoted to Barcelona’s first team. By then he had reached 1.7 meters tall — not especially tall, but taller than his idol, Maradona. His performances attracted attention from Spain, who hoped he would represent them, but a coach wanted him to play for Argentina.

Argentina’s coach was shown Messi’s football footage after watching it — he was thrilled. Messi’s father was contacted, and upon hearing his son could play for his country, he agreed without holding back. Messi also played for Barcelona, where Ronaldinho was also signed, and the two became very close. Messi’s dream was to win a World Cup for Argentina. After spending 21 years at Barcelona, his first goal came with a Ronaldinho assist — and every time he scored a goal afterward, he pointed to the sky to celebrate with his grandma in heaven. However, in 2014, Argentina reached the World Cup final, facing Germany. After 90 minutes, neither side scored, but the game was sealed with Germany winning.

Messi stared at the World Cup trophy during the ceremony, heartbroken that he couldn’t win it for Argentina. In 2022, Messi returned to the World Cup. In Qatar, Messi finally lifted the trophy he had dreamed about for 36 years — Argentina became world champions again. Messi truly became the champion of football after 20 years of illness, discrimination, last-minute victories, and heartbreaking defeats. He finally lifted the World Cup with his own hands — the trophy he had dreamed about.