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Lionel Andrés Messi aka Lionel Messi or Leo Messi was born on June 24, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. He is one of the top football players and was named FIFA's World Player of the Year six times.
Messi started playing for the youth team of Newell’s Old Boys football club, Rosario and when his family moved to Barcelona (Spain), he joined the under-14 team of FC Barcelona. At age 16, he got the opportunity to play in a friendly match.
During 2004–05, the 17 year old Messi became the youngest official goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga tournament. This teenager was only 5 feet 7 inches tall and 67 kg in weight but his game was top notch, level-headed especially as a pass distributor since he could effortlessly make his way through defenses.
He was conferred Spanish citizenship in 2005 and the very next year, Barcelona won the Champions League. By 2008, he became one of the most prominent players in the world, second only to Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.
With Messi in playing for them, FC Barcelona won their first "treble" i.e. three major European club titles - the La Liga championship, the Copa del Rey cup, and the Champions League - in a single season (2008-09). With his 38 goals in 51 matches, he outshined Ronaldo by a record margin to win FIFA World Player of the Year title (later renamed as FIFA Ballon d'Or). Messi was Europe’s leading scorer and earned the Golden Shoe award and in 2010, he was again named the FIFA Ballon d'Or. He won this honour for three consecutive years and at age 24, he became FC Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer with 233 goals in La Liga play.
He scored 73 goals in Barcelona’s 2011–12 season and broke Gerd Müller’s 39-year-old record for single-season goals in a major European football league. His amazing feats made him the world player of the year 2012, and thus he became the first player to win the Ballon d’Or title four times. Messi performed exceptionally well in the 2014–15 season and won his fifth Ballon d’Or title. In December 2019 he won his career's sixth Ballon d’Or.
He played for Argentina in 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and in 2006 World Cup. With his two goals in five matches, Argentina won the gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
At the 2014 World Cup, Messi's breathtaking performance helped Argentina enter the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost to Germany with a 1–0 score however Messi went on to win the Golden Ball award for being the tournament’s best player. In 2016, he broke Gabriel Batistuta’s record by scoring his 55th International Goal.
At the 2014 World Cup, Messi's breathtaking performance helped Argentina enter the World Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost to Germany with a 1–0 score however Messi went on to win the Golden Ball award for being the tournament’s best player. In 2016, he broke Gabriel Batistuta’s record by scoring his 55th International Goal.
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