Q 01/05

In which Argentine city was Lionel Messi born in June 1987?

A) Buenos Aires

B) Córdoba

C) Mendoza

D) Rosario

Answer · why

D) Rosario

Rosario, on the Paraná River in Santa Fe province, is Messi's birthplace; the city also produced Che Guevara and Ángel Di María.

Q 02/05

At age ten Messi was diagnosed with what condition, which threatened his future in football?

A) A growth hormone deficiency

B) Chronic childhood asthma

C) A congenital heart murmur

D) Osgood-Schlatter disease

Answer · why

A) A growth hormone deficiency

A growth hormone deficiency: the nightly injections cost about $1,000 a month, more than his family or Argentine clubs would cover, so Barcelona's off...

Q 03/05

Barcelona's first commitment to sign the 13-year-old Messi was famously written on what?

A) A paper napkin

B) A restaurant bill

C) The back of a match ticket

D) A hotel notepad

Answer · why

A) A paper napkin

Sporting director Carles Rexach had nothing else to hand at a tennis club. The napkin was later sold at auction for close to £800,000.

Q 04/05

Which club in his home city did Messi play for before moving to Barcelona?

A) Rosario Central

B) River Plate

C) Boca Juniors

D) Newell's Old Boys

Answer · why

D) Newell's Old Boys

Newell's Old Boys: Messi scored hundreds of goals for the Rosario club's youth side, 'The Machine of '87', before leaving for Barcelona in 2000; Rosar...

Q 05/05

Which Barcelona star nicknamed the teenage Messi 'little brother' and eased his way into the first team?

A) Samuel Eto'o

B) Xavi

C) Ronaldinho

D) Carles Puyol

Answer · why

C) Ronaldinho

Ronaldinho took the teenage Messi under his wing, calling him 'little brother', and the Brazilian set up Messi's first senior goal, a chip against Alb...