A former youth teammate of Lionel Messi has described a stand-out moment from his days playing alongside him that demonstrated the forward’s resilience.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner has had to deal with rival teams directly looking to stop him in his tracks throughout his glittering career, such is the fear that he strikes in opposition defenders. Even now at the age of 36, his three strikes in two outings for new club Inter Miami suggests that adversaries are right to treat him with caution.
For all that is made of the iconic winger’s unwavering ability in front of goal – he has found the back of the net over 800 times in his career — his hardiness is often one of his criminally overlooked characteristics. Despite only standing at a diminutive 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in), the Argentina captain has always stood his ground, often against more physical players.
Details have now emerged of the experiences that the former Barcelona hero went through during his formative years coming through at the club’s famous La Masia academy. Speaking to the Athletic, his former captain at the Blaugrana’s second-string team explained that the forward was immovable in his toughness even as a teenager.
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A year before Messi broke into Frank Rijkaard’s senior set-up, the 16-year-old starlet began making inroads for Barcelona B in Spain’s third tier, where he played alongside Arnau Riera. He would make 22 appearances at this level, scoring six times and made a strong impression on his teammate during that period.
Reira asserted: “In training, I often tackled him hard but he never complained. I remember one of the coaches calling me out on it, he told me I was going too hard on him and that was true. But I was also defending my place in the team.
“It was my profession, my job, my living, so when I trained, I took it very seriously. That day we had a few clashes between us, but I apologised to him in the dressing room. He never complained.”
The youngster soon developed into one of the greatest players to have ever played the game following his promotion to the first-team at Camp Nou, playing over 1000 games in one of the most illustrious careers in sporting history. Now at Inter Miami, having been named the world’s best player on seven occasions and having won 43 trophies for club and country, it appears that the playmaker’s toughness is undiminished.
