Lionel "Leo" Messi may be a global icon today, but once upon a time he was a young boy with big dreams in a small town in Argentina called Rosario. At that time Argentinian economy was not doing well and the people were suffering. In Rosario itself the unemployment rate around then was at least 20%. Messi was born in 1987, the third child out of four in his family. His parents both had blue collar jobs and they lived a humble life. Young Leo followed his brother and cousins to play football (soccer) every day. It was Messi's grandmother that eventually bought the young man his first football boots when he was 8 years old.
