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Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine football player, who currently plays as a second striker 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.^[1]

Career

Beginnings

Lionel Messi started playing football at a very early age for his hometown club, Newell's Old Boys. From the age of 11, he suffered from a growth hormone deficiency. As his parents were unable to pay for treatment in Argentina, they decided to move to Barcelona, Spain. Shortly after arriving, Lionel tried his luck with a trial at FC Barcelona, despite being only 13 years of age. He excelled at the trial and they offered to pay for his treatments if he joined them. He rapidly found himself starting for the Barcelona B team, averaging more than a goal per game.

Barcelona debut

In October 2004 Messi made his official debut for FC Barcelona. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on May 1, 2005, Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old, making him the second youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona along with the legendary Paulino Alcántara.

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 25 million more than his team mate in Barcelona, Ronaldinho).

International debut

On August 4, José Pekerman called him up to the senior Argentine national team. He made his debut against Hungary. However, he only played for three minutes of the game, being shown a red card, forcing him to leave the field in his first attempt on goal. He 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."

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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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 and Lukas Podolski.^[4]

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.^{[5] [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.^[7]. Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.

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.^[8]

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.

Statistics

All-time club performance

Honours

With Argentina National Team:

• FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005

With FC Barcelona:

• La Liga: 2004-05, 2005-06
• UEFA Champions League: 2005-06
• Supercopa de España: 2006