Lionel Massi...
by dj suvo
Full name Lionel Andrés Messi[1][2]
Date of birth 24 June 1987 (age 23)
Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)[1]
Playing position Forward / Winger
Club information
Current club Barcelona
Number 10
Youth career
1995–2000 Newell's Old Boys
2000–2004 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2005 Barcelona B 22 (6)
2004– Barcelona 177 (119)
National team‡
2005 Argentina U20 7 (6)
2008 Argentina U23 5 (2)
2005– Argentina 55 (16)
Honours[show]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:36, 11 May 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:05, 2 April 2011 (UTC)
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi: born 24 June 1987 in Rosario) is an association football player who currently plays for FC Barcelona and theArgentina national team as a forward or winger. Considered one of the best football players of his generation,[4][5][6] Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Yearnominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009[7][8][9][10] and 2010.[11] His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".[12][13]
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 an integral 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, equallingRonaldo's record total for Barcelona. He surpassed this record in the 2010–11 season with 53 goals in all competitions.
Messi has won five La Liga titles, three Champions League titles, scoring in two of those finals, against Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011. He was not on the pitch as Barcelona defeated Arsenal in 2006, but received a winners' medal from the tournament. After scoring 12 goals in the 2010–11 Champions League, Messi becomes the third player afterGerd Müller and Jean-Pierre Papin to top-score in three successive European Champion Clubs' Cup campaigns. However, Messi is the first one to win the Champions League top scorer titles for three consecutive years after Champions League changed its format in 1992.[14]
Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six 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 team.
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