Tonight is a date that will be ingrained in Lionel Messi for the rest of his life. Inter Miami will face off against Newell’s Old Boys in their final preseason game, where the football legend will compete against his native childhood club for the first time in his lengthy football career.
Growing up in Rosario, Argentina, Messi quickly became a fan of the city’s native club, Newell’s Old Boys, where he fell in love with the sport of football and his native club after attending Newell’s games.
In 1994, at six years old, the lifelong fan joined Rosario’s Newell’s Old Boys in their youth academy, where he would compete in the club for six years. During his remarkable youth career with Newell’s, the football legend scored close to 500 goals and was dubbed a member of “The Machine of ‘87,” the close-to-unbeatable youth team named after the year the youth players were born.
Lionel Messi when he was 8 year old playing a youth tournament for Newell's Old Boys.
— Historic Hub (@HistoricHub) February 13, 2024
pic.twitter.com/u9koPNOPcF
As a lifelong fan of the club and one of their best youth players, Messi had anticipated becoming the club’s next football star, but the Rosario native’s fate had different plans. At the age of 10, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. As the star’s family could not afford the costs after insurance, they needed to rely on a football club to invest in their son and cover the treatment costs.
Initially, the Rosario native’s youth team, Newell’s Old Boys, committed to contributing to covering some of the costs of treatments but was unable to hold up their end of the bargain. As Messi had family members in Catalonia, Spain, his family sought for the youth star to have a trial with F.C. Barcelona. Barcelona committed to covering the costs of the growth hormone treatment, and the rest was history.
Messi signed with the Spanish club at the age of 13 and made his first appearance in a game at the age of 16. Interestingly, today marks exactly 22 years since Messi signed his first official contract with F.C. Barcelona on February 15, 2002. The Argentinian native would spend the following 17 seasons of his football career in Barcelona and become the greatest footballer of all time.
#OTD in 2002, Leo Messi signed his first contract with Barcelona. 🇦🇷🐐 pic.twitter.com/qsgfkJQ2wW
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) February 15, 2024
Tonight’s matchup between Inter Miami and Newell’s Old Boys is an ode to Messi’s football career as the game ties the football legend’s past to his present.
From a young age, the Rosario native had anticipated competing for Newell’s Old Boys in his professional career, but his future had other plans. The 36-year-old likely never imagined competing against his hometown youth team in a pre-season friendly for the MLS, but this match represents the Rosario native’s present and impressive career.
Looking back at his career, Messi has likely achieved every dream a football player would set for themselves. The 36-year-old has made history by claiming 8 Ballon d’Or trophies. He won the 2022 FIFA World Cup for Argentina, the 2021 Copa de America, and 4 Champions League titles, and these are just a mere glimpse at the football star’s accomplishments.
While Messi has had one of the most impressive football careers, only one accomplishment is missing: competing professionally for his childhood team, Newell’s Old Boys. Messi still has time to accomplish his childhood dream, but tonight, the football legend will compete in a heartfelt game against the club.
Tonight’s match is Inter Miami’s final preseason game and will take place in their home stadium, DRV PNK Stadium. The Miami club hopes to win the game so they can close out their preseason friendlies with more than one win. The club is currently sitting at a record of one win, three losses, and two draws, which is not how fans anticipated Miami’s preseason to conclude.
Even if tonight’s match does not go as planned for Inter Miami, it will be a sentimental game for Messi and Inter Miami’s head coach, Gerardo Martino, as they both are Rosario natives and formerly part of the Newell’s Old Boys football club.
