Lionel Messi
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| Lionel Messi | ||
 |
||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lionel Andrés Messi | |
| Date of birth | June 24, 1987 | |
| Place of birth | Rosario, Argentina | |
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 61⁄2 in)[1] | |
| Playing position | Winger,Forward | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | FC Barcelona | |
| Number | 19 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1995–2000 2000–2003 2003–2004 |
Newell's Old Boys Youth Barcelona Youth FC Barcelona B |
|
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2004– | FC Barcelona | 78 (31)[2] |
| National team2 | ||
| 2005 2005– |
Argentina U-20 Argentina |
7 (6) 27 (9) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Lionel Andrés Messi (born June 24, 1987 in Rosario) is an Argentine professional footballer who currently plays for FC Barcelona in the Spanish Primera División. He is also a member of the Argentine national team.
He has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, and indeed Maradona himself named Messi his “successor”.[3]
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Beginnings
Lionel Messi was born in Rosario city on June 24, 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.[4] At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.[5] 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,[6] offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new life in Spain.[4] His family moved with the young player to Europe and he starred in the club’s youth teams.[6]
[edit] FC Barcelona
Messi made his unofficial debut for the first team against FC Porto on November 16, 2003. Less than a year later he made his official debut against Espanyol on October 16, 2004, becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga (a record broken by team mate Bojan Krkić in September 2007).[7] 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.[8]
[edit] Argentina Under-20
In June 2004, he got his chance, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay. In 2005 he was part of the team that won the Under-20 World Cup in Holland. He also won the prize for best player of the tournament and became top-scorer.
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[edit] International career
On August 4, 2005, José Pekerman called Messi up to the senior Argentine national team. He made his debut on August 17, 2005 against Hungary, but it was a forgettable occasion. He was substituted on during the 63rd minute, but was sent off after just 40 seconds, because the referee, Markus Merk, found he had elbowed defender Vilmos Vanczák, who was tugging Messi's shirt, and left the pitch in tears. The decision was contentious. 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.[11] Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-début. The first one was a bit short."[12]
[edit] 2005-06 season
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.[4][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 Lukas Podolski, Wayne Rooney 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][6] Messi's season ended prematurely on March 7, 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 , 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 the bench during the quarter-finals match against Germany, which Argentina lost in a penalty shootout.[26]
[edit] 2006-07 season
Consistently strong performances and the occasional goal meant Messi was not starting any more games on the bench. Failure to effectively replace the injured Samuel 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[3]. 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 Maradona's most famous goal (the goal scored after a sensational run taking the ball around half the England squad 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 with his hand that drew even more comparisons to Maradona's Hand of God.
[edit] Copa America 2007
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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 Oswaldo Sanchez 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 3-0.
[edit] 2007-08 season
Messi scored five 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.
He 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 percent 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. 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, Guti, Raul, Gianluca Zambrotta, Francesco Totti and Diego Maradona have all, at one time or another, declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballers in the world.[37][38]
On February 27 Messi played in his 100th official match for FC Barcelona.
Barcelona's medical staff decided to sideline Messi for six weeks following an injury on March 4 where he experienced a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against Celtic. Messi left the field at the Nou Camp in the 35th minute with tears in his eyes. It was the fourth time in three seasons that the player suffered this type of injury.[39] He missed Champions League quarterfinals against Schalke but returned on April 12, just before the clash with Manchester United. Barcelona was eventually knocked out of the competition by Manchester United.
[edit] Statistics
[edit] All-time club performance
| 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 | 28 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 40 | 16 | |
| Career totals | 78 | 31 | 10 | 3 | 22 | 8 | 110 | 42 | |
[edit] Honours
With Argentina National Team:
FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005- Copa América 2007 second place
With FC Barcelona:
La Liga: 2004-05, 2005-06- Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006
- UEFA Champions League: 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: 2006-2007[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]
[edit] References
- ^ Lionel Andrés Messi. fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ^ Recent History. ESPN.com (2008-02-16). Retrieved on 2008-05-14.
- ^ Reuters. "Maradona proclaims Messi as his successor", China Daily, 2006-02-25. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
- ^ a b c Richard Williams (2006-02-24). Messi has all the qualities to take world by storm. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ^ Lionel Messi. worldsoccer.about.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ^ a b c "The new messiah", FIFA.com, 5 March 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
- ^ Sky Sports | Football | Internationals | Argentina
- ^ Meteoric rise in three years. fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
- ^ Vickery, Tim: Messi handles 'new Maradona' tag on bbc.co.uk. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Argentine striker Messi recalled for World Cup qualifier in People's Daily Online. Accessed on December 30, 2006.
- ^ Reuters: Pekerman: "Messi is a jewel" in eurosport.com. Accessed January 6, 2007.
- ^ Reuters: Messi tries again as Argentina face Paraguay. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
- ^ FOOTBALL: Bara free to play Messi | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com
- ^ "Lionel Andres Messi - FCBarcelona and Argentina", footballdatabase.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.
- ^ Reuters. "Ronaldinho scores the goals, Messi takes the plaudits", rediff.com, 28 September 2005. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.
- ^ "Lionel Messi: football's new "Golden Boy"", XINHUA online, 2005-12-15. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.
- ^ "Messi "I Like To Play With The Crowd Against Me"", Goal.com, 29 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
- ^ "Frustrated Messi suffers another injury setback", ESPNsoccernet, April 26, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ Vickery, Tom: Messi comes of age in bbc.co.uk. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Argentina allay fears over Messi in bbc.co.uk. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Messi weiter auf der Bank in kicker.de. Accessed December 30, 2006
- ^ Argentina 6-0 Serbia & Montenegro in bbc.co.uk. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Holland 0-0 Argentina in bbc.co.uk. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Rodríguez finds an answer but many questions still remain in football.guardian.co.uk. Accessed October 10, 2007.
- ^ Argentina 2-1 Mexico (aet) in bbc.co.uk. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Germany 1-1 Argentina in bbc.co.uk. Accessed December 30, 2006.
- ^ Messi vs Carlos. Retrieved on 2007-04-19.
- ^ FCBarcelona.com (2006-11-14). "Doctors happy with Messi op". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.
- ^ "Messi to miss FIFA Club World Cup", FIFA.com/Reuters, 2006-11-13. Retrieved on 2006-01-18.
- ^ "Moratti prepares Messi move", channel4.com, 5 January 2007. Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
- ^ Massimo Morati on Inter Channel. Inter.it (8 January 2007). Retrieved on 2007-01-17.
- ^ The greatest goal ever? - Football News - Telegraph
- ^ Messi dazzles as Barça reach Copa Final. ESPN Soccernet (2007-04-18).
- ^ Lowe, Sid. "The greatest goal ever?", The Daily Telegraph, 2007-04-20. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
- ^ The fans crown Messi as the best (Spanish)
- ^ [1][2]
- ^ Leo Messi vs Kun Agüero - Marca.com
- ^ Totti le daría el Balón de Oro a Messi antes que a Kaká - Marca.com
- ^ CBC.ca
- ^ Includes Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España
- ^ Includes UEFA Supercup
- ^ Messi receives Bravo award Barcelona official site
- ^ World Soccer
- ^ Kaka wins World Soccer award - World Soccer News
- ^ Trofeo EFE
- ^ Premio Don Balón
- ^ Copa America 2007 Pool
- ^ Kaka wins World Soccer award - World Soccer News
- ^ Messi viaja hoy a Zúrich para el FIFA World Player | SPORT | Barça
- ^ SI Latino's 2007 Sportsman of the Year
[edit] External links
- 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 |
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