UnderdogMindset

Shortest Ballon d'Or winner

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Lionel Messi
Posted: Mar 31, 2023
Height Soccer

Lionel Messi is likely the greatest soccer player ever. He won a record 7 Ballon d'Or awards; he is also the shortest Ballon winner ever. Note that the Ballon d'Or awards used to be limited to European players before 1995, so someone like Diego Maradona, who was shorter, never had a chance to win the prize.

Messi was not even expected to reach his height; he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency when he was 10. But thanks to signing with Barcelona and undergoing treatment, he would get healthy and grow in height and superstardom.

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References

  • Messi’s Medical Journey

    In 1999, the future greatest soccer player of all time sat in a doctor’s office in Rosario, Argentina. Lionel Messi was just 11 years old and awaiting a diagnosis after over a year of tests (Caoili, 2012, p.41). He was 4 feet and 4 inches inches tall (Hawkey, 2008), and had not grown since he was nine (Thompson, 2012)

  • What height is Lionel Messi? Explaining his growth deficiency as a child

    The treatment involved injections of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) into alternate legs every day. An 11-year-old Messi had to administer those injections himself and some of the puncture marks were visible for a long time afterwards.

  • The Machine of '87: Messi's Boyhood Teammates Recall Early Signs of Greatness

    Messi was one of about every 20,000 in the population who suffer from growth hormone deficiency. He was only a little over 4'0" tall when he joined Newell's and 15-20 centimetres below his target height. His problem was treatable. His body was otherwise normal.