Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "
Leo"
Messi born
24 June 1987 is an
Argentine footballer who currently plays for
FC Barcelona and the
Argentina national team as a forward or winger. Considered one of the best football players of his generation,
Messi received several
Ballon d'Or and
FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the
age of 21 and won both by the
age of 22. He also won the
2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or at the
age of 23. His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to
Diego Maradona, who himself declared
Messi his "
successor".
Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by
Barcelona. He left
Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in
2000 and moved with his family to
Europe, as
Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the
2004–05 season, he broke his
team record for the youngest footballer to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as
Barcelona won La Liga in
Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and
Champions League in
2006. His breakthrough season was in the
2006–07 season; he became a first team regular, scoring a
hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with
14 goals in
26 league games.
Messi then had the most successful season of his playing career, the
2008–09 season, in which he scored
38 goals to play anintegral part in a
treble-winning campaign. This record breaking season was then eclipsed in the following
2009–10 campaign, where
Messi scored
47 goals in all competitions, equalling
Ronaldo's record total for
Barcelona. He surpassed this record in the
2010–11 season.
Messi was the top scorer of the
2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with
6-Goals, including two in the
final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of
Argentina's senior international team. In
2006, he became the
youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the
Copa América Tournament the following year. In
2008, in
Beijing, he won his first international honour, an
Olympic Gold Medal, with the
Argentina Olympic Football.
