Happy Birthday Lionel Messi: 5 staggering facts about him you might be unaware of

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has turned 35 years old. For the last 30 years of his 35-year-life, he has been an absolute sensation as a footballer. He has terrorised most of his opponent footballers and the opposite teams with his exquisite goal-scoring and dribbling abilities. Eventually, he became one of the greatest legends of modern-day football and is also considered the GOAT alongside Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo. While many do know a lot about his footballing career, there might still be something that you might be unaware of or could have forgotten. On his 35th birthday, we present his five staggering facts.

First club
You got it wrong if you think it's Newell's Old Boys. Messi began his football journey when he was five years old, and the first-ever club he played for happened to be Grandoli, a small Argentine club his father ran. He played for it between 1992-95 before moving to NOB, where he began to gel as a footballer.

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Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD)
When Messi was 11 years old, he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). While the doctors declared that he would never become a footballer, he had to undergo treatment for it, costing $900 per month. While Messi's family could not afford it, Barcelona stepped in, flew him and his family to Spain and paid for the treatment.

Paper napkin contract
Confused? Well, here's how it goes. Barcelona stepped in for his GHD treatment in 2000, and the same year saw him being roped in by the club. Unfortunately, he could not be handed a formal contract initially by the club. It was because Barcelona scout Carles Rexach was in Rosario, Argentina, scouting for players when he stumbled upon Messi. He was so impressed by Messi's footballing skills that he could not wait. He immediately handed him an initial contract by writing on a paper napkin, which Messi gladly accepted and signed before being flown out to Spain with his family.

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First hat-trick
You might be aware of numerous hat-trick by Messi in his playing career. However, his first career hat-trick came on a unique occasion, which happened to be El Clasico, against Real Madrid. It happened to be a 3-3 draw, thanks to 19-year-old Messi's hat-trick. To date, he has twin hat-tricks against Barca's arch-rival.

Sent off on international debut
Not many remember his international debut for Argentina in August 2005 against Hungary. He was brought onto the pitch in the second half as a substitute. A Hungarian player pulled his jersey as the Argentine swung his elbow that struck the player, while the referee had no choice but to show him the red card, sending him off within 47 seconds of his debut.