Messi träningsboll
Messi vs Ronaldo - All Time Career Goals and Stats
Argentine professional footballer. Eponyms and public art.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi set numerous records for individual accolades won throughout his professional footballing career such as eight Ballon d'Or awards and eight times being named the world's best player by FIFA. Messi holds the records for most European Golden Shoes 6 , most goals for a single club , with Barcelona , most goals , hat-tricks 36 and assists in La Liga , most matches played 39 , assists 18 and goal contributions 34 in the Copa América, most matches played 26 and goal contributions 21 in the World Cup, most international appearances and international goals by a South American male, and the second-most in the latter category outright.
A prolific goalscorer and creative playmaker, Messi has scored over senior career goals for club and country. Born in Rosario , Argentina, Messi relocated to Spain to join Barcelona at age 13, and made his competitive debut at age 17 in October He established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in —09 helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football; that year, aged 22, Messi won the first of his four consecutive Ballons d'Or, the first player to win it four times.
During the —12 season , he set La Liga and European records for most goals in a season, while establishing himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer. The following two seasons, he finished second for the Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo , his perceived career rival , before regaining his best form during the —15 campaign , where he became the all-time top scorer in La Liga, led Barcelona to a historic second treble, and won a fifth Ballon d'Or in Messi assumed captaincy of Barcelona in , and won a record sixth Ballon d'Or in He signed for French club Paris Saint-Germain in August , where he would win the Ligue 1 title during both of his seasons there.
Messi joined American club Inter Miami in July , and set a new mark for most goals scored for the club by his second season. An Argentine international, Messi is the national team's all-time leading goalscorer and most-capped player.
Lionel Messi's Top 10 Unforgettable Football Tricks: Mastering the Game
His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed dribbler drew career-long comparisons with compatriot Diego Maradona , who described Messi as his successor. After his senior debut in , Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a World Cup in After initially announcing his international retirement in , he returned to help his country narrowly qualify for the FIFA World Cup , which they would again exit early.
Messi and the national team finally broke Argentina's year trophy drought with a victory in the Copa América , where he was named the tournament's best player and which later helped him win his seventh Ballon d'Or that year. This followed with a record-extending eighth Ballon d'Or in A second Copa América victory with Messi as captain came in Messi has endorsed sportswear company Adidas since According to France Football , he was the world's highest-paid footballer for five years out of six between and , and was ranked the world's highest-paid athlete by Forbes in and Messi was among Time ' s most influential people in the world in , , and In and , he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year , the first team-sport athlete to win it.
Messi was born on 24 June in Rosario , Santa Fe Province , [ 21 ] the third of four children of Jorge Messi, a steel factory manager, and his wife Celia Cuccittini, who worked in a magnet manufacturing workshop.
The Secret Behind Lionel Messi’s Devastating Dribbling Style
On his father's side, he is of Italian and Spanish descent, the great-grandson of immigrants from the north-central Adriatic Marche region of Italy, and on his mother's side, he has primarily Italian ancestry. He's a dwarf, he's too fragile, too small. But immediately you'd realise that he was born different, that he was a phenomenon and that he was going to be something impressive.
During the six years he played for Newell's, he scored almost goals as a member of "The Machine of '87", the near-unbeatable youth side named for the year of their birth, and regularly entertained crowds by performing ball tricks during half-time of the first team's home games. However, his future as a professional player was threatened when, aged 10, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.
As the Messi family had relatives in Catalonia, they sought to arrange a trial with Barcelona in September First team director Charly Rexach immediately wanted to sign him, but the board of directors hesitated; at the time it was highly unusual for European clubs to sign foreign players of such a young age. On 14 December, an ultimatum was issued for Barcelona to prove their commitment, and Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered a contract on a paper napkin.
Dribbling in Soccer: Mastering Messi’s Techniques to Elevate Your Game
During his first year in Spain, Messi rarely played with the Infantiles due to a transfer conflict with Newell's; as a foreigner, he could only be fielded in friendlies and the Catalan league. Without football, he struggled to integrate into the team; already reserved by nature, he was so quiet that his teammates initially believed he was mute. At home, he suffered from homesickness after his mother moved back to Rosario with his brothers and little sister, María Sol, while he stayed in Barcelona with his father.
Now playing in all competitions, he befriended his teammates, among whom were Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué. During his first full season —03 , he was top scorer with 36 goals in 30 games for the Cadetes A, who won an unprecedented treble of the league and both the Spanish and Catalan cups.