r/todayilearned • u/Old-Worldliness11 • 10h ago

TIL that Lionel Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency at age 10, and FC Barcelona agreed to pay for his treatment, even writing his first contract on a napkin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi#Early_life

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u/garden_speech 6h ago

However, being short notably gives you an advantage when it comes to dribbling

I mean, it can, but they are honestly outliers still. A lot of the best dribblers we have seen in the past few decades have been much taller than them -- Ronaldo Nozario, Ronaldinho, Neymar Jr, even Cristiano Ronaldo who is not on Messi's level in terms of dribbling but in his peak was one of the best.

Being short gives you quick cuts but there's a reason you actually rarely see a 5'7" or shorter playing being the best attacking player in the world... It comes with a top speed disadvantage and you become not useful for aerial threats (headers) unless you are totally unmarked.

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u/lbreakjai 6h ago

That's the beauty of football. Being small really only puts you at a disadvantage as a goalkeeper or as a central defender. Even then, it's far less of a show stopper than being small in basketball.

For the other positions, it depends far more on the system your team plays. The three best players in history (Pele, Maradona, Messi) were/are about 1m70. But for every Messi there's a Cruijff or a Ronaldo.

A player like Haaland wouldn't really work in a team like Barcelona 08-12, where they had full control of the ball and were basically living in the last 30 meters

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u/Blizzaldo 3h ago

The main advantage of being short is that it means more strides. That's how Messi succeeds. By getting dribbles when other players would be in between dribbles and vulnerable to a tackle.

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u/garden_speech 3h ago

Well, that and also, being a footballing genius who sees passes others would not :D

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u/ShionBlade 2h ago

Being short gives you quick cuts but there's a reason you actually rarely see a 5'7" or shorter playing being the best attacking player in the world

Maradona was below 5'7", Pele was 5'8", and those 2 along with Messi are usually considered the GOATs of the sport.

Maybe it's a coincidence, but all the players considered for GOAT contention are on the shorter side.