Lionel Andrés Messi was born on 24 June 1987
in Rosario, the third of four children of Jorge
Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife
Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet
manufacturing workshop. On his father's side, he
is of Italian and Spanish descent, the great-
grandson of immigrants from Marche and
Catalonia , and on his mother's side, he has
primarily Italian ancestry. [2] Growing up in a
tight-knit, football-loving family, "Leo" developed
a passion for the sport from an early age,
playing constantly with his older brothers,
Rodrigo and Matías, and his cousins,
Maximiliano and Emanuel Biancucchi , both of
whom became professional footballers. [6] At the
age of four he joined local club Grandoli, where
he was coached by his father, though his earliest
influence as a player came from his maternal
grandmother, Celia, who accompanied him to
training and matches. [7] He was greatly affected
by her death, shortly before his eleventh birthday;
since then, as a devout Catholic, he has
celebrated his goals by looking up and pointing
to the sky in tribute of his grandmother. [8][9]