On September 17, 2000, a modest flight from Buenos Aires landed at Barcelona's El Prat Airport carrying a quiet 13-year-old boy from Rosario named Lionel Andrés Messi, accompanied by his father Jorge. Small in stature due to a growth hormone deficiency, the teenager had traveled across the Atlantic for a make-or-break trial at FC Barcelona's famed youth academy, La Masia.
During his trial matches at the Mini Estadi against players two years older than him, Messi astonished Barcelona scouts with his supernatural balance, close control, and lightning-quick acceleration. Barcelona Technical Director Carles Rexach famously declared after watching just ten minutes of a training game: "We have to sign him immediately. Even if he were from Mars, we could not let him get away."
With Barcelona's board hesitating over the financial commitment of paying for the teenager's monthly $900 medical hormone treatments, Rexach met with Messi's representative Horacio Gaggioli at the Pompeia Tennis Club. Reaching for a paper napkin from the table, Rexach famously drafted the historic commitment on the spot: "In Barcelona, on 14 December 2000... Carles Rexach commits under his responsibility to sign the player Lionel Messi."
That arrival on September 17, 2000 launched an unprecedented era of football dominance, yielding 778 official appearances, 672 goals, 35 major trophies for FC Barcelona, and a record eight Ballon d'Or awards for Lionel Messi.