LA PULGA: How Leo Messi Got His Nickname

It is said that good things come in small packages, don’t they? 

At the age of 9, Leo was only 3 feet, 6 inches. His talent was beyond words, but his height concerned his family.

At the age of 11, when his body was as if he was a 9 year old child, he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), the reason why he started a three-year long daily treatment of injections which would help him growth. 

He started his soccer career in 1995 at Newell’s Old Boys, in Rosario, Santa Fe, but at the age of 13 he joined the Under 14s, at the Barcelona team, which decided to pay for his medical treatment. 

The way he played was indescribable. Standing at just 5 feet, 7 inches tall after his treatment, he was unstoppable inside the field. Small, high-speed and with an amazing technique, always jumping around his opponents, like a sneaky insect, taking the ball away from them, and then, right before their eyes, there he was scoring a goal. Just like a flea. La pulga. (Name given by his family first, and then popularized in 2005 by an Argentinian journalist.)

Short in height, but big in precision; with 34 trophies under his belt, La pulga has never stopped giving us reason to keep watching him play with the ball with his amazing technique. So, we decided to create an entire collection named after his nickname: LA PULGA COLLECTION.

So, if you are going to watch La Pulga play, the Messi La Pulga Paint Splash Graphic T-shirt (also available in kid's sizes!) is the must to wear to cheer on this short in height but big in precision, La Pulga!