Welcome to the Making of Messi, our new three-part narrative series. 

Following in the footsteps of former stars of the footballing world like Pele, David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Lionel Messi is attempting to crack the US with his move to Inter Miami.

The Argentine has won it all in domestic and international football over a glittering career at Barcelona, PSG and for his country, Argentina.

In the first episode of this audio documentary series, presenter Mike Zimmermann takes us on the journey of Messi becoming, in many people’s eyes, the greatest of all-time, or GOAT.

We go back to Messi’s roots in Rosario, Argentina, hearing from Felipe Cardenas on his early years, Pol Ballus provides insight on his 20-year spell at Barcelona, and Tom Williams recounts his time at PSG.

James Horncastle assesses his international career, which reached its peak in that epic 2022 World Cup win in Qatar.

You’ll also hear from Michael Cox on Messi the footballer, and Nick Miller on the Messi the man, and the money.

Produced by Mike Stavrou.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In part two, The Athletic's Adam Leventhal continues his journey along the Turkish fault line, to reveal more stories of remarkable heroism, tragedy and finding refuge in football, four months on from the earthquakes.

As all eyes fall on Istanbul and the glamour of a Champions League final, Adam finds a technical director who pulled five people out of the rubble, the story of a goalkeeper's wife whose cry for help sent shockwaves around the world, and visits Iskenderenspor - the team that played on.

Produced by Adonis Pratsides

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the first of this two-part audio documentary series, The Athletic's Adam Leventhal heads to the capital of Turkey's south-eastern province of Hatay - home of first-division side Hatayspor - where former Ghana international and Premier League winger Christian Atsu scored a last-minute free kick, just hours before the first earthquake hit on February 6th.

Adam interviews head coach and former Turkish international goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, as well as various other people connected to Hatayspor, about their lasting memories of Atsu and how the football club is trying to help an entire community rebuild.

It's a harrowing insight into the realities of surviving a natural disaster and the scale of the destruction.

Produced by Adonis Pratsides

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Bobby 90, a four-part special podcast series from The Athletic to mark what would have been Sir Bobby Robson's 90th birthday. In this final episode of the series, Sir Bobby talks about his various battles with cancer and the establishing of the charitable foundation in his name.

As preparation for his final book, Sir Bobby looked back over his remarkable life-story with George Caulkin. Thanks to the generosity of Sir Bobby's family we are able to publish the recording of those conversations, featuring memories of his life as a miner's son, watching some of the greatest ever Newcastle United teams, and embarking on an incredible football career of his own.

We also hear the moving story of Sir Bobby's repeated bouts of cancer and how he came to launch his "last and greatest team", the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

The shows were written by Sir Bobby Robson and George Caulkin, mixed and edited by Ollie Bellwood.

For more information, and to donate, please go to http://sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Bobby 90, a four-part special podcast series from The Athletic to mark what would have been Sir Bobby Robson's 90th birthday. In the third episode of the series, Sir Bobby talks about his dream managerial job at Newcastle and his relationship with the fans.

As preparation for his final book, Sir Bobby looked back over his remarkable life-story with George Caulkin. Thanks to the generosity of Sir Bobby's family we are able to publish the recording of those conversations, featuring memories of his life as a miner's son, watching some of the greatest ever Newcastle United teams, and embarking on an incredible football career of his own.

We also hear the moving story of Sir Bobby's repeated bouts of cancer and how he came to launch his "last and greatest team", the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

The shows were written by Sir Bobby Robson and George Caulkin, mixed and edited by Ollie Bellwood.

For more information, and to donate, please go to http://sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Bobby 90, a four-part special podcast series from The Athletic to mark what would have been Sir Bobby Robson's 90th birthday. In the second episode of the series, Sir Bobby takes us through his various managerial stints at England, Barcelona and his hunger for success everywhere he went.

As preparation for his final book, Sir Bobby looked back over his remarkable life-story with George Caulkin. Thanks to the generosity of Sir Bobby's family we are able to publish the recording of those conversations, featuring memories of his life as a miner's son, watching some of the greatest ever Newcastle United teams, and embarking on an incredible football career of his own.

We also hear the moving story of Sir Bobby's repeated bouts of cancer and how he came to launch his "last and greatest team", the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

The shows were written by Sir Bobby Robson and George Caulkin, mixed and edited by Ollie Bellwood.

For more information, and to donate, please go to http://sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Bobby 90, a four-part special podcast series from The Athletic to mark what would have been Sir Bobby Robson's 90th birthday. In the first episode of the series, Sir Bobby talks about his childhood and growing up in the north east.

As preparation for his final book, Sir Bobby looked back over his remarkable life-story with George Caulkin. Thanks to the generosity of Sir Bobby's family we are able to publish the recording of those conversations, featuring memories of his life as a miner's son, watching some of the greatest ever Newcastle United teams, and embarking on an incredible football career of his own.

We also hear the moving story of Sir Bobby's repeated bouts of cancer and how he came to launch his "last and greatest team", the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.

The shows were written by Sir Bobby Robson and George Caulkin, mixed and edited by Ollie Bellwood.

For more information, and to donate, please go to http://sirbobbyrobsonfoundation.org.uk/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.