Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina and from the start he displayed a liking and aptitude for soccer. He played for a club called Grandoli, which was coached by his father. He was a very good soccer player at his age showing great promise. Unfortunately, at age 11, he was diagnosed a growth deficiency. Many soccer clubs, such as River Plate knew he had exceptional talent and wanted to sign him. However, these clubs did not want to play for his medical treatment. Then, Barcelona gave Messi a trial to play for them. The coaches were very impressed and were willing to pay for his treatment. Messi was blessed with the opportunity to train with one of the best clubs in the world and receive treatment free of cost. So for 8 years, Messi received training from the top youth academy training for 8 hours a day 5 days a week.
Messi eventually received his big break at age 17 breaking into the first team. At this point, he had had about 16,640 hours of soccer practice. According to Malcolm Gladwell, 10,000 was a very important number because if you hit 10,000 hours in whatever you were doing you would have achieved a very high level of skill in that activity. Messi almost doubled that and he was only 17. That was his second stepping stone to success. It began with him being given the opportunity to train with Barcelona and receiving a contract. When it seemed like no club would take him because of his medical illness Barcelona comes in and gives him his one opportunity and seized it. Then, he got pulled to the first team and after that the sky was the limit. He played scored goals and won championships with his club. He then got pulled up to the international team and has found great success there as well as setting records both club and internationally. One of his most prominent records was breaking the record of most goals scored in one calender year in all competitions. He broke the record by scoring 91 goals breaking the previous record of 85 goals set by German Gerd Muller.
The main reason I see him as an outlier is his work ethic and his intelligence. His work ethic was very easily depicted when he stated,
"I made a lot of sacrifices by leaving Argentina, leaving my family to start a new life. But everything I did, I did for football, to achieve my dream. That's why I didn't go out partying, or do a lot of other things."
Also, people do not realize that Messi is a very intelligent soccer player. Using the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence it is evident Messi has a high intelligence in all 3 groups which are practical, analytical, and creative. Soccer is game of geometry with angles everywhere. Messi is regarded the best player in the world because he knows these angles very well. This makes his analytical intelligence very high. Creative wise, whenever Messi gets the ball defenders shiver, he has attained such a mastery with a ball that he is so creative and can manipulate it in so many ways making it impossible for the defenders to tell what he is doing. Finally, Messi's practical intelligence is very high. Whenever in public he knows exactly what to say so people will love him. He is a very humble person, and that is why people adore him both as a player and a person, he knows what to say at the right time to achieve that affection. Overall, Messi is regarded an outlier due to his work ethic, and intelligence. Lionel Messi has a story that unlike many others is a true success story. He had one moment and did not let it slip away.
http://www.biographyonline.net/sport/football/lionel-messi.htmlhttp://bleacherreport.com/articles/237096-the-lionel-messi-story-how-did-he-get-to-the-top-of-the-world
