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Lionel Messi

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Lionel Messi
Image:Liomessi.jpg
Personal information
Full name Lionel Andrés Messi
Date of birth June 24 1987 (age 21)
Place of birth Rosario, Argentina
Height 5'6½ (1.69m)
Nickname Leo
La Pulga
The Messiah
Position Forward</br>Attacking Midfielder
Club information
Current club FC Barcelona
Youth clubs
1995-2000
2000-2004 		Newell's Old Boys
FC Barcelona B
Professional clubs*
Years Club Apps (goals)
2000-2004
2004-present 		FC Barcelona B</br>FC Barcelona 30 (37)
32 (13)
National team**
2005–present Argentina 12 (2)

* Professional club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 15 October 2006.
** National team caps and goals correct
as of 11 October 2006.

Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine-Spanish football player, who currently plays for FC Barcelona. He is often touted in the media as the new "Diego Maradona". Messi has been publicly named as "Maradona's successor" by Diego Maradona himself.<ref>Reuters. "Maradona proclaims Messi as his successor", China Daily, 2006-02-25. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.</ref>

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Beginnings

Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province and started playing football at a very early age for his hometown club, Newell's Old Boys. From the age of 11[citation needed], he suffered from a growth hormone deficiency. River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment of the illness, which cost over £500 a month, as Argentina's economy was collapsing at the time. FC Barcelona offered it would pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new life in Spain playing for the club.<ref name=Williams/>

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

[edit] Barcelona debut

In October 2004 Messi made his official debut for the first team against RCD Espanyol, becoming the third-youngest player to ever play for FC Barcelona. 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.

[edit] Argentina U-20

Messi was offered the chance to play for the Spanish national side, but he declined, preferring to wait for the opportunity to play for the country of his birth. In June 2004 he got his chance, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay.

In June 2005 Messi starred for the Argentina U-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 (which happens to be 30 million more than his teammate in Barcelona, Ronaldinho).<ref name=Williams>Williams, Richard. "Messi has all the qualities to take world by storm in The Guardian. Accessed November 10, 2006.</ref><ref>"Ronaldinho signs contract extension till 2010". FCBarcelona.com. Accessed November 10, 2006</ref>

[edit] International debut

On August 4, José Pekerman called him up to the senior Argentine national team. He made his debut against Hungary but was sent off after just 2 minutes and left the pitch in tears. Messi famously acknowledged his shortened initiation in international football before Argentina's next match against Paraguay saying "This is a re-debut, The first one was a bit short."

[edit] 2005-06 season

Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on September 25 and was finally able to make his debut in this 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.<ref>"Lionel Andres Messi - FCBarcelona and Argentina", footballdatabase.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.</ref> 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.<ref>Reuters. "Ronaldinho scores the goals, Messi takes the plaudits", rediff.com, 28 September 2005. Retrieved on 2006-08-23.</ref> 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.<ref>"Lionel Messi: football's new "Golden Boy"", XINHUA online, 2005-12-15. Retrieved on 2006-07-01.</ref>

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.<ref>"Messi "I Like To Play With The Crowd Against Me"", Goal.com, June 29, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.</ref> <ref>"The new messiah", FIFA.com, March 05, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.</ref> 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.<ref>"Frustrated Messi suffers another injury setback", ESPNsoccernet, April 26, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.</ref>. Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.

[edit] World Cup 2006

The injury that kept him from playing for two months at the end of the 2005/06 league, jeopardized his presence in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Nonetheless, Messi was selected in the Argentina squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup on May 15, 2006. He also played in the farewell match against the Argentinian U-20 team and a friendly against Angola.

Messi witnessed Argentina's opening match win against Ivory Coast from the bench. In the next match against Serbia and Montenegro, he came on as a substitute for Maxi Rodríguez in the 74th minute. In doing so he became the youngest player to represent Argentina at a World Cup. He assisted Hernán Crespo's goal within minutes of entering the game and also scored the final goal in the 6-0 victory. This goal made him the youngest scorer in the 2006 World Cup and the sixth youngest scorer in World Cup history.<ref>Reuters. "Messi unconcerned by statistics", FIFAworldcup.com, 18 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-23.</ref>

Argentina advanced to the Round of 16 as top qualifiers from Group C. In the following game against Mexico, Messi came on as a substitute for Javier Saviola in the 84th minute, with the score tied 1-1. Argentina proceeded to win the game 2-1 in extra time. The win placed them into the quarter-finals, where they lost to the host nation Germany on penalties. Messi did not play in the quarter-finals and spent the entire match on the bench.

[edit] 2006-07 Season

Messi maintained his reputation as a big match player when Barcelona played Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. He embarrassed Brazilian full back Roberto Carlos - even making him fall over during one particularly deft move, and breaking his fingers as a result. He also embarrassed world-renowned back Cannavaro. He has also saved Barcelona from being in trouble in the Champions League group stage after his 89th min. equaliser against Werder Bremen, which still gave Barcelona a chance to qualify to the knock outs, after losing to Chelsea, then drawing at home. Messi is currently sidelined with a broken metatarsal which is expected to keep him out for atleast 3 months as of 14th November 2006, the day of his operation.<ref>FCBarcelona.com (2006-11-14). Doctors happy with Messi op. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-16.</ref>

[edit] Statistics

(correct as of May 7, 2006)

[edit] All-time club performance

Club Season League Cup<ref>Includes Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España</ref> Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Barcelona 2004-05 711-1-91
2005-06 1762161258
2006-07 632-21104
Career totals 44 13

[edit] Honours

With Argentina National Team:

With FC Barcelona:

Personal Honours:

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

Image:Wikiquote-logo-en.png
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Image:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina squad - 2006 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists Image:Flag of Argentina.svg

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

FC Barcelona - Current Squad

1 Valdés | 2 Belletti | 3 Motta | 4 Márquez | 5 Puyol | 6 Xavi | 7 Guðjohnsen | 8 Giuly | 9 Eto'o | 10 Ronaldinho | 11 Zambrotta | 12 Gio | 15 Edmílson | 16 Sylvinho | 18 Ezquerro | 19 Messi | 20 Deco | 21 Thuram | 22 Saviola | 23 Oleguer | 24 Iniesta | 25 Jorquera | 28 Ruben | 29 Valiente | 32 Crosas | 33 Jeffrén | Coach: Rijkaard

ar:ليونيل ميسي

bn:লিওনেল মেসি bg:Лионел Меси ca:Lionel Messi da:Lionel Messi de:Lionel Messi et:Lionel Messi es:Lionel Messi eo:Lionel Messi fr:Lionel Messi ga:Lionel Messi ko:리오넬 메시 hr:Lionel Messi id:Lionel Messi it:Lionel Messi he:ליונל מסי ka:მესი, ლიონელ lt:Lionel Messi hu:Lionel Messi nl:Lionel Messi ja:リオネル・メッシ no:Lionel Messi pl:Lionel Messi pt:Lionel Messi ru:Месси, Лионель fi:Lionel Messi sv:Lionel Messi vi:Lionel Messi tr:Lionel Messi zh:利昂内尔·梅西

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