Summary
Lionel 'Leo' Messi was born on the 24th June 1987 and is an Argentine football player who currently plays for FC Barcelona in Spain. Messi is the captain of his national team, Argentina, and plays predominantly as a forward.
Messi's style of play has been likened to Diego Maradona, who is regarded as one of the best players of all time, however Messi is on the way to becoming arguably even greater than his compatriot. Maradona even declared Messi as his 'successor' in 2006 and the young Argentine has reaffirmed this early forecast by reaching the summit of world football.
Messi has already received two Ballon d'Or awards (2009 and 2010) and is in-line to receive his third consecutive, a feat only achieved before by Michele Platini.
Leo was recognized playing football to a high level at a young age, his talents obvious to those around him. He was always regarded as one of the most skillful and effective players during his youth, but there were concerns about his height and physicality. Playing for Newell's Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina, Messi was snapped up by Barcelona in 2000 who offered to pay for the growth hormone treatment he would need to advance in his career. Newell's could not afford the treatment, so Leo's family agreed that a move to Europe was the best decision for the youngster's promising career.
Messi excelled for the Barcelona youth team and made his breakthrough to the first team in the 2004-2005 season. Messi was the club's youngest ever scorer in that season and he went on to win a La Liga and Champions League double in 2006, despite not featuring in the final against Arsenal.
The 2006-2007 season was when Messi cemented his place in the first team, one of his most memorable matches was his incredible hat-trick against arch rivals Real Madrid.
Messi had a phenomenal season in 2008-2009, leading his club to an unprecedented treble, one of the greatest moments in the club's history, notching 38 goals. Messi surpassed that mark the following season with 47 goals, equal to legend Ronaldo in the late 90s. Messi's performance in 2010-2011 was even better, scoring 53 goals, the same tally as Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
So far, Messi has accumulated 5 La Liga titles and 3 Champions League titles, his most significant accolades (as a team) for the club. Messi was also notably the top scorer in the 2010-2011 Champions League season, which was the third time in a row he has been the competition's top scorer.
At International level, Messi came to the fore at the 2005 Fifa Youth World Championship where he emerged as a phenomenon. He scored five goals in the tournament and soon after broke into the senior team. In 2006 he had made the first team and picked up a runners-up medal at the 2007 Copa America tournament. Messi won the gold medal for Argentina at the 2008 Olympics and was the tournament's stand-out player. To date, Messi has scored 18 goals in 64 games for his country.
