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Lionel Andrés Messi
Personal information
Full name	Lionel Andrés Messi
Date of birth	June 24, 1987 (1987-06-24) (age 20)
Place of birth	Rosario, Argentina
Height	1.69 m (5 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker/Right Winger
Club information
Current club	Barcelona
Number	19
Youth clubs
1995–2000 2000–2004	Newell's Old Boys FC Barcelona B
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004–	FC Barcelona	64 (29)[1]
National team2
2005–	Argentina	26 0(8)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25 November 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 26 September 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario) is an Argentine international footballer who currently plays for FC Barcelona in the Primera División, and appears on Argentina's national team. He has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, and indeed Maradona himself named Messi his "successor".^[2]

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Beginnings 1.2 Barcelona début 1.3 Argentina Under-20 1.4 International début 1.5 2005-06 season 1.6 World Cup 2006 1.7 2006-07 season 1.8 Copa America 2007 1.9 2007-08 season 2 Statistics 2.1 All-time club performance 3 Honours 4 References 5 External links

Lionel Messi was born in Santa Fe Province on 24 June 1987. At the age of five, he started playing football for Grandoli, a club coached by his father. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys.^[3] At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.^[4] River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment of the illness that cost over £500 a month, as Argentina's economy was collapsing.^{[citation needed]} Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, was made aware of Messi's talent, and Barcelona signed him after watching him play,^[5] offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new life in Spain.^[3] His family moved with the young player to Europe and he starred in the club’s youth teams.^[5]

He soon found himself starting for the Barcelona B team, averaging more than a goal per game, by scoring 37 goals in 30 matches.

On November 16, 2003, Messi made his unofficial debut for the first team against FC Porto then, a year later on October 16, 2004, came his official debut against RCD Espanyol, becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga (record broken by Bojan Krkić in September 2007).^[6] When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on May 1, 2005, Messi was 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for FC Barcelona until 2007 when Bojan Krkić broke this record, a goal assisted by Messi.^[7]

In June 2004, he got his chance, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay.

In June 2005, Messi played in the Under-20 team that won the Football World Youth Championship in Netherlands, picking up the Golden Boot as top scorer with 6 goals, and the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament. Despite his youth, Lionel was already being compared to Diego Maradona, one of the greatest football players of all time. On June 27, FC Barcelona renewed his contract until 2010, establishing a selling clause of €150 million (30 million more than his Barcelona team mate, Ronaldinho).^[3][8]

On August 4, 2005, José Pekerman called him up to the senior Argentine national team. On August 17, 2005, he made his début against Hungary. He was put in during the 63rd minute, but was sent off after just 40 seconds, because the referee Markus Merk found he had elbowed the defender Vilmos Vanczák who was tugging Messi's shirt, and left the pitch in tears. The decision was heavily contested as Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated.^[9][10] Messi then had his first international start on September 3 in Argentina's 0-1 World Cup qualifier away loss against Paraguay playing the last eight minutes of the match.^[11] Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-début. The first one was a bit short"^[12]

On September 16, for the second time in three months, Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract - this time improved to pay him as a first team member and extended till June 2014.^[3][13] Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on September 25 and was finally able to make his début in the season's Spanish First Division. He had previously been unable to play because FC Barcelona had filled their quota of non-EU players. Messi's first home outing in the UEFA Champions League came on September 27 against Italian club Udinese.^[14] He impressed with some great passing and a seemingly telepathic relationship with Ronaldinho that earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000-odd Nou Camp faithful.^[15] In December of that year, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe, ahead of Wayne Rooney, Lukas Podolski, and Cristiano Ronaldo.^[16]

Messi netted 6 goals from 17 league appearances and scored 1 Champions League goal from the 6 games he featured in. His reputation for big match temperament was helped by performances in Barcelona's important away leg victories against Real Madrid and Chelsea in the league and Champions League respectively, each considered his best of the respective campaign.^[17][5] Messi's season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, when he tore a muscle in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea.^[18] Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.

The injury that kept him from playing for two months at the end of the 2005/06 season jeopardised his presence in the World Cup. Nevertheless, Messi was selected in the Argentina squad for the tournament on May 15 2006. He also played in the farewell match against the Argentinian U-20 team for fifteen minutes and a friendly against Angola from the 64th minute.^[19][20] He witnessed Argentina's opening match victory against Ivory Coast from the bench.^[21] In the next match against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi became the youngest player to represent Argentina at a World Cup when he came on as a substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in the 74th minute. He assisted Hernán Crespo's goal within minutes of entering the game and also scored the final goal in the 6-0 victory, that made him the youngest scorer in the tournament.^[22] Messi started in Argentina's following 0-0 tie against the Netherlands.^[23] In the following game against Mexico, Messi came on as a substitute in the 84th minute, with the score tied 1-1. He appeared to score a goal, but was ruled offside in a dubious decision^[24][25], Argentina needing an extra time winner to proceed. Messi sat on bench during the quarter-finals match against Germany, which Argentina lost in a penalty shootout.^[26]

Consistently strong performances and the occasional goal meant Messi was not starting any more games on the bench. Failure to effectively replace the injured Eto'o and poor defensive displays prevented Barcelona from taking advantage of Messi's showings against Chelsea and Real Madrid^[27]. This would later prove critical to their title challenges. On November 12, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal from tackles, ruling him out for 3 months^[28][29]. Barça carried out his recuperation in native Argentina. During this period there were rumours of interest in the player from Inter Milan^[30][31]. Messi returned to action against Racing Santander on the 11th of February, coming on as a second-half substitute[5]. Rijkaard carefully managed his complete return, gradually increasing playing minutes with each game. One month since his return, on the 10th of March, he played his first full league match since the injury, Real Madrid being the opposition. Once again, El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3-3 draw, equalising thrice and with the final goal coming in injury time. In doing so he became the first player since Iván Zamorano (for Real Madrid in the 1994-95 season) and the first Barcelona player since Romario(1993-94 season) to hit a hat-trick in the El Clásico. Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. The game also marked the beginning of Messi's best spell of form with Barça. He also began finding the net more often, 11 of his 14 league goals for the season coming from the last 13 games. Despite his spirited efforts, Barcelona felt marginally short in its defence of the La Liga title, Real Madrid winning on a better head-to-head record.

Messi also proved the 'new Maradona' tag was not all hype, by near-replicating both of Maradona's most famous goals (the two against England in the 1986 World Cup) in the space of the single season^[32]. On April 18, 2007, he scored two goals during a Copa del Rey semi-final against Getafe CF, one of which was very similar to Maradona's famous goal against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, known as the Goal of the Century.^[33]. The world's sports press exploded with Maradona comparisons, and the Spanish press labelled Messi as "Messidona". He ran about the same distance (62 metres), beat the same number of players (six, including the goalkeeper), scored from a very similar position, and ran towards the corner flag just as Maradona did in Mexico 21 years before. In a press conference after the game, Messi's team-mate Deco said: "There's no other like Leo"^[34]. Later on, in a crucial league match with Espanyol, Messi scored a goal that drew comparisons to Maradona's Hand of God goal.

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

Messi played his first game in Copa America on 29 June, 2007, when Argentina defeated United States 4-1 in the first game. In this game, Messi showed his capabilities as a playmaker. He set up a goal for fellow striker Hernán Crespo and had numerous shots on target. Tevez came on as a substitute for Messi in the 79th minute and scored minutes later.

His second game was against Colombia, in which he caused a penalty that Crespo converted to tie the game at 1-1. He also played part in Argentina's second goal as he was fouled outside the box, which allowed Juan Roman Riquelme to score from a freekick, and increase Argentina's lead to 3-1. The final score of the game was 4-2 in Argentina's favor and guaranteed them a spot in the tournament's quarterfinals.

In the third game, against Paraguay the coach rested Messi having already qualified for the quarter-finals. He came off the bench in place of Esteban Cambiasso in the 64th minute, with 0-0. In the 79th minute he created a goal for Javier Mascherano. In the quarterfinals, as Argentina faced Peru, Riquelme made a pass to Messi and the latter scored the second goal for Argentina, which advanced to the semifinals after a 4-0 win.

In the semi finals against Mexico, Messi scored when he spotted the Mexican goalkeeper off of his line and chipped the ball into the goal. The goal ultimately helped his team to a 3-0 victory and earned them a place in the final against Brazil, which Argentina subsequently lost.

Messi scored 5 goals in a week leading Barcelona to the top four in La Liga. He dedicated the two goals he scored against FC Sevilla on September 22 to Ronaldinho, who was injured and under fire from media outlets at the time. A few days earlier he had scored as Barcelona defeated Lyon 3-0 at home in a Champions League match and then on September 26, Messi scored another goal in a 4-1 victory over Real Zaragoza. His goals against Levante and Atlético de Madrid have made him top scorer in La Liga to date.

Leo has been nominated for a FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward. A recent poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper Marca has him as the current best player of the world with 77% of the votes.^[35] Also, other columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport began asking for the Ballon d'Or to be given to Leo Messi this year. Some Spanish sport journalists have started to point out that if Messi keeps playing at this level, he could become one of the greatest of all time like Maradona or Pele. This observation was also made by world soccer legends Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff.^[36] Various soccer personalities such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Frank Rijkaard, Víctor Fernández, Bernd Schuster, Francesco Totti and even Diego Maradona himself have all, at one time or another, declared that they consider Messi to be the current best footballer of the world.^[37][38]

A poll conducted at FIFA's official website has him as the best of the current UEFA Champions league, over Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Cesc Fabregas as it can be read in the article "fifa.com users hail Messi". Also, as of December 1st, Messi has also been voted in the top 3 for best footballer of 2007, along with Kaká, and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal.^[39]

Club	Season	League		Cup[40]		Europe[41]		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC Barcelona	2004-05	7	1	1	0	1	0	9	1
	2005-06	17	6	2	1	6	1	25	8
	2006-07	26	14	4	2	6	1	36	17
	2007-08	14	8	0	0	5	4	19	12
Career totals		64	29	7	3	18	6	89	38

With Argentina National Team:

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
• Copa América 2007 second place

With FC Barcelona:

• La Liga: 2004-05, 2005-06
• UEFA Champions League: 2005-06
• Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006

Personal Honours:

• Golden Ball: FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
• Golden Boot: FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
• Golden Boy: 2005
• Bravo Award: 2007^[42]
• World Soccer Young Player of the Year: 2006^[43], 2007^[44]
• Olimpia de Plata: Argentinian Player of the Year: 2005
• FIFPro World Young Player of the Year: 2006
• FIFPro World XI: 2007
• EFE Trophy: Best Ibero-American Player in La Liga: 2007^[45]
• Best foreign player in La Liga: 2007^[46]
• Copa America Best Young Player: 2007^[47]
• France Football Player of the Year:
  • 3rd place: 2007
• World Soccer Footballer of the Year:
  • 2nd place: 2007^[48]
• FIFA World Player of the Year:
  • 2nd place: 2007^[49]
• SI Latino's 2007 Sportsman of the Year: 2007^[50]

• Lionel Messi biography at FC Barcelona website

Preceded by Thierry Henry	France Football Bronze Ball 2007	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Ronaldinho	Premio Don Balon 2006-2007	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Cesc Fabregas	Bravo Award - Best European young Player of the Year 2007	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Inaugural	Copa America best young player 2007	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Wayne Rooney	FIFPro Young Player of the Year 2006,2007	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Robinho	World Soccer Young Player of the Year 2006,2007	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Ismail Matar	FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Ball 2005	Succeeded by Sergio Agüero
Preceded by Eddie Johnson	FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Boot 2005	Succeeded by Sergio Agüero

v • d • e Argentina squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup
1 Abbondanzieri • 2 Ayala • 3 Sorín • 4 Coloccini • 5 Cambiasso • 6 Heinze • 7 Saviola • 8 Mascherano • 9 Crespo • 10 Riquelme • 11 Tévez • 12 Franco • 13 Scaloni • 14 Palacio • 15 Milito • 16 Aimar • 17 Cufré • 18 Rodríguez • 19 Messi • 20 Cruz • 21 Burdisso • 22 González • 23 Ustari • Coach: Pekerman

v • d • e FC Barcelona – current squad
1 Víctor • 3 Gabi Milito • 4 Rafa Márquez • 5 Puyol • 6 Xavi • 7 Gudjohnsen • 8 Iniesta • 9 Eto'o • 10 Ronaldinho • 11 Zambrotta • 14 Henry • 15 Edmílson • 16 Sylvinho • 17 Giovani • 18 Ezquerro • 19 Messi • 20 Deco • 21 Thuram • 22 Abidal • 23 Oleguer • 24 Touré Yaya • 25 Jorquera • 27 Bojan • Coach: Rijkaard