Master of messianic moments

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the best players of all time. He holds the record for the most Ballon d’Or wins (2009-12, 2015, 2019), the first to claim the award six times. Here are a few snapshots from the life of this legend of football who has millions of fans worldwide and 152 million followers on Instagram:

Timeline

June 24, 1987, Lionel Messsi was born in Rosario, Argentina. He joined the youth team of Newell’s Old Boys, at 13, and began playing for FC Barcelona’s U-14 team. He scored 21 goals in 14 games for the junior team, and quickly graduated through the higher-level teams. At 16, he was given his informal debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match

2004-2005 Then 17, he became the youngest official player and goal scorer in the La Liga. Only 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 67 kg, he was strong, well-balanced and versatile on the field. Naturally left-footed, quick, and precise in control of the ball, Messi was a keen pass distributor and could readily thread his way through packed defences

2005 He was granted Spanish citizenship, an honour greeted with mixed feelings by the fiercely Catalan supporters of Barcelona

2006 Messi handed Barcelona the Champions League title

2008 He was one of the most dominant players in the world, finishing second to Cristiano Ronaldo in the voting for the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year

2009 Messi capped off a spectacular season by helping FC Barcelona capture the club’s first ‘treble’— 3 major European club titles in one season: La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League. He scored 38 goals in 51 matches during that season, and bested Ronaldo in the balloting for the FIFA World Player of the Year by a record margin

2009-10 Messi scored 34 goals in domestic games as Barcelona repeated as La Liga champions. He earned the Golden Shoe as Europe’s leading scorer, and was named the 2010 FIFA Ballon d’Or. He led Barca to La Liga and Champions League titles the following season, which helped him capture an unprecedented third consecutive FIFA Baloon d’Or

2012 March, he scored 233rd goal for Barca, becoming the club’s all-time leading scorer in La Liga play at 24. He finished Barcelona’s 2011-12 season (which included another Copa del Rey win) with 73 goals in all, breaking Gerd Müller’s 39-year-old record for single-season goals in a major European football league. His was named the 2012 Ballon d’Or, first to win the honour four times

2012-13 His 46 La Liga goals led the league, and Bara won another domestic top-division championship

2014-15 He set the overall Barcelona goal record when he scored his 370th goal as a member of the team. That same year he also broke the career scoring records for play in both the Champions League (with 72 goals) and La Liga (with 253 goals). He helped Barca win another treble, leading the team with 43 goals, clinching his fifth world player of the year honour

2015-16 He scored 41 goals across for Bara and the club won La Liga and the Copa del Rey

2016-17 Messi topped that with 53 goals for Barcelona, win another Copa del Rey title

2017-18 He scored 45 goals, and Barca won the La Liga-Copa del Rey double once again

2018-19 He scored 51 goals across all domestic competitions as Barca won another La Liga title

Dribbling challenges

• Messi’s father, Jorge, was a steelworker who also coached the local youth football team.
• Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency, which was stopping his normal growth rate at a tender age of 11. His parents couldn’t afford his treatment of $900 per month.
• As his father’s medical insurance could only cover two years of treatment, Messi’s father started looking for alternatives. He was scouted by Buenos Aires club, River Plate, but they couldn’t afford his treatment as well.
• Through their relatives in Catalonia, Messi’s family arranged a trial with Barcelona in September 2000. The first team director was so impressed that he sought to sign him immediately. Having no paper at hand, he wrote Messi’s first contract on a paper napkin.
• As he was a foreigner, Messi wasn’t allowed to participate in the official youth team matches in his first year.
• Messi was so reserved that his teammates initially thought he was mute.
• Arsene Wenger claims that after he successfully signed Fabregas, he tried to sign Messi when he was still young. The deal couldn’t succeed to his regret because Messi wasn’t willing to leave his club.
• Messi was part of the ‘Baby Dream Team’, which was Barcelona’s greatest ever youth side. During his first full season with that team (2002-03), Messi was the top scorer with 36 goals in 30 games.
• Messi was pursued by the Royal Spanish Football Federation to join the Spanish team. The Argentine Football Association organised two Under-20 friendlies to finalise Messi’s status as an Argentine player in FIFA.
• In the Copa Catalunya, Messi started on condition that he’ll wear a plastic protector mask to cover his broken cheekbone. After feeling uncomfortable, Messi took off the mask and scored 2 goals in 10 minutes before getting substituted.
• Messi made his debut for Barcelona against RCD Espanyol at 17. He became the third-youngest player to start for Barca and the youngest ever to score for the club.
• On his 18th birthday, Messi signed his first contract as a senior team player. He had a buy-out clause of €150 million and the contract extended until 2010.
• After his performance against Juventus, Fabio Capello, the then-Juve coach, requested to loan Messi. After Capello’s request, Inter Milan made a bid to buy Messi. They were willing to pay his €150 mn release clause and triple his wages. As to the then-president Joan Laporta, it was the only time when the club faced a real risk of losing Messi. He decided to stay at Barca.
• In the 2006 FIFA WC, Messi became the youngest player to represent Argentina. In his debut match, he became the sixth youngest player to score in FIFA WC.

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Road to Ballon d’Or 2019

54 games Messi has for club and country

46 goals scored in all competitions

17 assists provided by him in all games played

68.5% win percentage recorded by Messi

346 La Liga victories scored by Messi helped him overtake Iker Casillas

496 victories helped him overtake Xavi Hernández as the Barça player to win the most matches in all competitions

12 goals in 10 matches is Messi’s score for Barcelona in Champions League semifinals, though the club lost to Liverpool in the semifinals

50th free-kick of his career, a magnificent 35-yard free-kick put his side 3-1 up against Real Valladolid

600th goal was scored by him against Liverpool in the Champions League semifinal

3 hat-tricks in 2019, equalling Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 34 La Liga hat-tricks in the process

10th La Liga title with Barcelona

34th trophy of his career

6th Pichichi Trophy made him end the 2018-19 La Liga season by winning as top scorer, equalling Telmo Zarra’s record which has stood since 1953

36 goals in 34 games stats made him extended his record for the most European Golden Shoe victories after finishing as the top league scorer in Europe and becoming the first player to win the award for three consecutive seasons

Ties with homeland

• Despite his dual citizenship and professional success in Spain, Messi’s ties with his homeland remained strong, and he was a key member of various Argentine national teams from 2005
• He played on Argentina’s victorious 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship squad, represented the country in the 2006 World Cup, and scored two goals in five matches as Argentina swept to gold at the Beijing 2008 Oly
• Messi helped Argentina reach the 2010 World Cup quarterfinals, where the team was eliminated by Germany for the second consecutive time in World Cup play
• At the 2014 World Cup, Messi scored four goals, single-handedly propelling an offense-deficient Argentina team through the group stage and into the knockout rounds, where Argentina then advanced to the WC final for the first time in 24 years. Argentina lost that contest 1-0 to Germany, but Messi won the Golden Ball
• During the 2016 Copa América Centenario, he netted his 55th international goal to break Gabriel Batistuta’s Argentine scoring record
• After Argentina was defeated in the Copa final-the team’s third consecutive finals loss in a major tournament-Messi said he was quitting the team, but he announced his return. At the 2018 WC, he helped Argentine side reach the knockout stage, where they were eliminated by eventual champion France in their first match. In 2019, he was a member of Argentina’s 3rd-place team at the Copa América