A Short, Must-See Video Clip Of Pure Messi-Enthusiasm

Even if you don’t like soccer and haven’t watched any of the World Cup games going on right now in Brazil, take a minute and watch this video of Argentina commentator Alejandro Fantino describing an extra-time, game winning goal by Lionel Messi who is without doubt the best soccer player in the world right now and a national hero in his home country of Argentina. This description takes sports excitement to an entirely new level unheard of in our baseball, football, hockey or basketball games.

Lionel Messi scores dramatic goal in extra time to lift Argentina to 1-0 win

After some long chants of "Goooooooooal, Goooooooooal, Goooooooooal", Fantino went absolutely berserk and followed up with comparisons in Spanish to the likes of Brazilian soccer legend Pele and then the Pope ("Papa Francisco")….Il Papa, Il Papa, Il Papa! It seems that on this day in a steamy, hot soccer stadium in Brazil, Argentina’s favourite son Pope Francis was bumped to second place behind Lionel Messi and his second spectacular, game-winning goal in as many games.

Lionel Messi’s annual salary is a staggering $65M plus $25M in endorsements

Lionel Messi, who turns 27 next month is expected to sign a new 5 year contract with his home football club Barcelona after the World Cup that will probably exceed the $50 million annual salary paid to fellow Spanish league player Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

The salaries for Messi and Ronaldo dwarf any other athletes in team sports. For comparisons sake, the top salary in MLB this year is $25 million (Ryan Howard and Cliff Lee) and $30.5 million in the NBA (Kobe Bryant).

In addition to their annual salaries, both Messi and Ronaldo rake in an additional $25 million more in endorsements. It’s only fitting, I guess, as their clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, are the two most valuable franchises in sports according to Forbes Magazine. The teams are fierce rivals with their matchups  dubbed El Clasico and watched by hundreds of millions of people (an estimated 400 million watched in March or three times the global Super Bowl audience).

Lionel Messi was born Luis Lionel Andres Messi on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. As a young boy, he tagged along when his two older brothers played soccer with their friends and was not intimidated by the bigger boys. At the age of 8, he was recruited to join a Rosario-based football club. Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth.

Messi's parents, Jorge and Ceclia, soon found it impossible to pay for the several hundred dollars per month in medications required to treat their son. At age 13, with his prowess on the soccer field already gathering international attention, soccer powerhouse Barcelona FC offered Messi the chance to train at its youth academy and have his medical bills covered by the team, Messi's family picked up and moved across the Atlantic to make a new home in Spain.

Messi eventually grew to 5 feet and 7 inches and moved quickly through the junior system ranks, and by the age of 16, he had made his first appearance for the big team - Barcelona. Messi put himself in the record books on May 1, 2005, as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise. That same year, he led Argentina to the title in the under-20 World Cup, Now, today, he stands atop the world of football proving that skill, speed and determination can still beat size!

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