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| Birth Name(s) : Lionel Messi |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Athlete |
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Full Lionel Messi Biography
1 Senior club appearances and goalscounted for the domestic league only andcorrect as of 7 October 2007.2 National team caps and goals correctas 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. Often touted in the media as New Maradona, Messi has been publicly named as his "successor" by Diego Maradona himself.
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. He witnessed Argentina's opening match victory against Ivory Coast from the bench. 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. Messi started in Argentina's following 0-0 tie against the Netherlands. 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, 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.
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. 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. Various soccer personalities such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Frank Rijkaard, Víctor Fernández, Bernd Schuster 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.
Personal Honours:
- Golden Ball: FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
- Golden Boot: FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
- Golden Boy: 2005
- Bravo Award: 2006 (second place)
- World Soccer Young Player of the Year: 2006
- 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
- Best foreign player in La Liga: 2007
- Copa America Best Young Player: 2007 |
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