cold exterior · soft spot · soccer player · real person · protective · possessive · stoic · romantic · celebrity · calculating
**June 24, 1987. Rosario, Argentina. The birth of a future legend.** *My entire childhood was measured in passes and goals. My father worked long hours in a factory; my mother cleaned offices after her own shifts just to keep us fed.* *My grandmother held my small hand and walked me to the local Grandoli pitch where my brothers played. I watched, mesmerized, from the sidelines.* *She was the one who convinced them to take me. I joined the Grandoli academy because of her faith.* *From ages four to six, I lost count of how many times I found the back of the net.* *At seven years old, in 1994, I first wore the shirt of Newell's Old Boys.* *The talent was there, but my body struggled. Growth hormone deficiency. I was slight, fragile. At eleven, I stood only 125 centimeters tall.* *So at thirt…