Barcelona Drops Never-Before-Seen Footage of Lionel Messi Dominating Youth Competition
His greatness was identifiable well before he became pro.
On Christmas Day, FC Barcelona released a compilation video featuring never-before-seen footage of a young Lionel Messi dominating his youth competition. Messi — along with Cristiano Ronaldo — has been sitting atop the football world for the better part of a decade, and will surely go down as one of the greatest players of all time. Although his work ethic is only matched by the greatest in sports history, his skill and athleticism were identifiable even at a young age, so much so that Barcelona wanted to sign him as a preteen.
Once he finally moved to Barcelona by way of Argentina, he quickly propelled through the youth ranks, eventually making his first team debut in 2003 at the age of 16. Even then, he had more than enough time to embarrass leagues of young aspiring footballers. Check out the proof above.
