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The Flea - Lionel Messi (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Colin Lowther.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: And I'm Alice Irasari. Spotlight uses a special English method
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: The score was even. It was late in the game.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: He was running out of time. This was his last
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: chance to win the only title he had not won.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: He had come close but failed in the past. His
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: career was almost over. He had to do something. He
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: needed to score one more goal. He needed one more
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: special moment to lift his country to the World Cup champion.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Today's Spotlight is about Lionel Messi. We look at it
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: struggles growing up in Argentina. We examine his rise through
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: youth football. We talk about his accomplishments as the top
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: football player in the world. We discuss his career long
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: pursuit of the World Cup Championship.
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Football is often called the beautiful game. It combines strategy,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: a constantly changing field, and teamwork. The players' athletic abilities
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: are impressive. They often look like ballet dancers as they
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: run and jump. Each team must kick the ball back
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and forth to each other. The players cannot touch the
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: ball with their hands. Each team must keep the ball
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: from the other while moving toward the goal. If they
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: can kick the ball into the other team's goal, they
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: get a point. The team that finishes the game with
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: the most points wins.
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Lionel Messi grew up in Rosario, Argentina. He was smaller
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: than other boys. When Messi was eight years old, doctors
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: discovered he had growth hormone disorder. His brain did not
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: make enough of the chemicals that told his body to grow.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Messi's parents started injecting him with medicine to help him
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: overcome the disorder. The treatment cost a lot of money,
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: it was difficult for his parents to afford.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Thankfully, Messi's skills as a young football player were improving.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: The football club Newell's Old Boys offered to pay for
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: some of his treatment if Messi played football for them.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: As he continued to play better, the Spanish club Barcelona
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: offered to pay for all his medical treatments if he
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: played for their youth school La Masia. Messi and his
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: family decided to accept the offer and move to Barcelona.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: The team paid for all his remaining treatments until he
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: finished at the age of fourteen.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Messi had a hard time when they moved to Barcelona.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: His new teammates teased him because he was so short. Also,
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Messi did not speak Catalan, the language of Barcelona. He
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: spoke Spanish.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: Messi said, my teammates were big, rough and kind of mean.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: They did not pay attention to me. They spoke Catalan
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: among themselves. I cried a lot. I would lock myself
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: in my room and cry secretly. I did not want
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: my dad to find out.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Despite the hard change, Messi played well at the school.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: He continued improving his skills. He was very good at
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: dribbling the ball. Dribbling is when a player kicks the
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: ball around the field. Messi was great at dribbling the
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: ball around defenders. He was very fast. He could run
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: faster while kicking the ball than most defenders could run.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: He had grown to one hundred and seventy centimeters. He
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: was still smaller than most of the other players, but
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: Messi used it to his advantage. His smaller size allowed
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: him to slip by defenders. He also had great balance.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: If a defender bumped him, he kept going. They nicknamed
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: him the Flea because he was so quick and hard
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  Speaker 1: to catch.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: While he was still in youth football, Messi helped Argentina
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: win the International Federation of Association Football or FIFA World
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: Youth Championship. At the age of seventeen, he turned professional.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: He joined Barcelona's senior team FC Barcelona. Over the next
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: few years, he became the best player on the team.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Barcelona named him captain. He set the record for the
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: most goals scored in a season. He won the ballin
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  Speaker 2: d'Or or Golden Ball as the best player in football
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: four straight seasons. When he was only twenty four, he
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: became Barcelona's all time leading scorer. Cristiano Ronaldo, one of
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: the best players Messi faith during his career, said.
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: Messi is the best I have played against. But there
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: was another player who challenged Messi even more than Ronaldo.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: He was the hardest person for Messi to beat, and
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: he did not even play against Messi. He stopped playing
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: six years before Messi turned professional. His name was Diego Maradonna.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Maradonna was a hero in Argentina. He led Argentina to
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: the World Cup title in nineteen eighty six. The World
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Cup is the biggest soccer tournament. It is held every
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  Speaker 1: four years. Only the top thirty two national teams from
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  Speaker 1: around the world attend Maradonna was the last person to
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  Speaker 1: lead Argentina to the World Cup Championship. He was small
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: and quick like Messi. He was a great d rebeler too.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: When Messi turned professional, Argentinians expected that he would lead
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: the national team to the World Cup championship. Everyone compared
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: into Maradona. They thought Messi would have success at the
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: World Cup, just like Maradona, but it did not happen.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: Messi played very well in each World Cup tournament, but
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: Argentina did not win. He was even named the best
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: player in the tournament one year, even though Argentina lost.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: Messi played in four World Cups and reached the final
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: game one year, but Argentina lost to Germany.
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: Messi had a very successful professional career. He won a
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: record eight Ballon d'Or awards named him the world's best
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: player eight times. He won many league titles with FC Barcelona.
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: He holds the record for the most goals scored for
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  Speaker 1: one club, but he could not win the World Cup
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: championship like Maradonna. Some said he would never be better
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: than Maradonna without winning the World Cup.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: When Messi was thirty five years old, he played in
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: his fifth World Cup. Many said he was not at
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: his best anymore. He was too old. They said he
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: was not as quick, but they were wrong. In Argentina's
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: first six matches, Messi scored five goals. He helped to
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: lead Argentina to the final match against France. France was
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: led by a young star named Bapei. The match was close,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: who was tied. With time running out, one of Messi's
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: teammates kicked the ball towards France's goal. The goalkeeper blocked
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: the shot, but Messi instantly kicked the ball again into
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: the goal to give Argentina the lead, but France did
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: not give up. They tied the game.
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: When no one else was able to score, the teams
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: had a shootout. A shootout decides the winner of a
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: match that ends in a draw. Each team selects players
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: to take turns trying to kick the ball past the goalkeeper.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Whichever team makes the most goals wins the game. In
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: the shootout, Messi and his teammates made their first four
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: shots into the goal, but France's players missed two of
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: their attempts. Argentina won and Messi finally had his World
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: Cup championship. For the tournament Messi scored a total of
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: seven goals, assisted in three more goals, and was awarded
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: the Golden Ball as the best player in the tournament.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: He is the only player to win the FIFA World
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Cup Golden Ball twice. Not even Maradonna did it.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Many people once considered Lionel Messi too small to play football.
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  Speaker 2: They did not believe he could compete with stronger players.
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  Speaker 2: He would get hurt, he would not survive. But they
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: underestimated Messi's bravery. They did not know how much he
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: loved playing football. Now many think Messi is the greatest
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: football player ever.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: Do you play or watch football? Have you ever seen
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Lionel Messi play football? Who do you think is the
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: best football player ever? You can leave a comment on
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com. You
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue Sky,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: and x. You can also get our programs delivered directly
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: to your Android or Apple device through our free official
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: Spotlight English app.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: The writer of this program was Peter Anderson. The producer
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: was mitchyo Osaki. The voices you heard were from the
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: for this program and voiced by Spotlight. This program is
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: called the Flea Lionel Messi.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: We hope you can join us again for the next
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Spotlight program. Goodbye, h