Lionel Messi's first ever interview with an English publication, 20 years on

They always joke, Hey, kid, youre the only Argentinian well put up with, but I know that they are my friends. Sylvinho is a special guy and Deco, what a player he is.

Ronaldinho is world-class, and hes got an ability to control the ball that makes me jealous. At any moment during a match, he can do something special to win it thats what I must aim to do too.

Born and raised in Rosario, Messi moved to join La Masia, Barcelonas esteemed youth academy, at the age of 13. Its now the stuff of local legend that when he sat on the bench, at just 4ft 8in, he was the only player whose legs werent long enough to reach the floor.

He had been taking hormones since growth problems were first diagnosed aged 11, injecting himself every evening for two years. For a year, the social security paid for his treatment, but then things got more complicated, recalls father Jorge. It was very expensive about $1,800 every two months.

At the time, Messi was affiliated to Newells Old Boys, but the clubs refusal to pay for his hormone treatment would cost them dear. There was an approach from River Plate, but Messis family had both Italian and Catalan roots on a visit to see his cousins in Spain, his life took a whole new direction.

Alerted to Messis potential by one of their Argentinian scouts, Barcelona invited the youngster for a trial he impressed and was invited to sign a napkin as a symbolic contractual bond. Then Messi and his family returned to Argentina and made plans to move to Catalonia.

I remember when we left our neighbourhood in Rosario, all the neighbours and our friends came out to say goodbye, he recalls quietly. Everybody was on the street with us.

My mother and father, and my two brothers and sister were all getting ready to go in a taxi to the airport, all of them crying. It was one of the first times that Id ever been on a plane.

When we arrived, we went straight to the Camp Nou. It was so impressive that it felt as though we had made the right decision to go through so much sadness and pain.

"Everyone told me that Barcelona would look after us, but I was worried that it would turn out to be a lie. It was February and it was cold, which didnt help us to settle in and we knew nothing not even that Barcelona was by the sea. In Argentina, I lived near a river, but the beach was an amazing discovery.

As Messi settled into Catalan life, his younger sister, Maria Sol, had a hard time adjusting to her new school. She was only five and struggled to integrate, so my mother, sister and brother Matias went back to Argentina, he says. I miss them a lot.

Bara paid for Messis treatment, and he grew a centimetre each month for almost three years, reaching 5ft 6in.

By then, other major clubs had spotted his talent, including Arsenal. A man introduced himself as an assistant of Arsene Wenger, recalls father Jorge.

He said, If you suffer any problems here, remember Arsenal are very interested, but we preferred Bara. The Spanish football federation also came knocking for Messi.

I couldnt play in certain youth tournaments as they were Spanish only, he recalls. Then, one day, a man asked if I was interested in playing for Spain. That man was Gines Melendez, the Spanish U16 team coach.

For a 15-year-old, he was the best Id ever seen, says Melendez. But unfortunately, we couldnt call him up because he still hadnt obtained Spanish nationality.

Besides, Messis dream was to play in the Under-17 World Championship for Argentina not that his countrymen knew. Exiled in Barcelona, Messi was out of sight and very much out of mind.

Then he received a call from Argentinas bestselling sports magazine El Grafico, who wanted to write a story about him. Seeking an independent opinion of this unknown wonderkid, the journalist assigned to the piece phoned Hugo Tocalli, the Argentina U17s boss, asking what he knew.

Someone gave me some video footage of him, replied Tocalli, indifferently. But for this competition, were working only with players born in 1986, and he was born in 87.

Yet when Tocalli arrived at the World Championships, he soon came to realise hed made a terrible mistake. Spanish journalists bombarded him, incredulous that Argentina could afford to leave out such a prodigious young talent.

Spurred into action, the Argentinian FA swiftly arranged an under-20 friendly purely as an excuse to call up Messi. With that, his Argentinian future was secure.

In July 2005, a second phone call then turned Messis world upside down: for any Argentinian footballer, this was the equivalent of a Papal blessing. Inspired by Messi, Argentina had just knocked Brazil out of the World Youth Championship when the man of the match was handed a mobile phone and told that Maradona was on the line.

He thought it was a practical joke at first, until he heard the voice on the line say, Hello monster [an Argentinian term for a big, big player], this is little Diego. As I held the telephone, I looked in the mirror and saw my eyes were full of tears, so it was difficult to speak, even when I regained my composure a little bit, recalls Messi, still visibly starstruck.