LIONEL MESSI

TEAMS PLAYED FOR

FC Barcelona (Spain): 2000 -
Newell's Old Boys (Argentina): 1995 - 2000

BIO

Lionel Messi (full name Luis Lionel Andrés Messi) was born on June 24th, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina.  He is an Argentine soccer player currently plaing for Spanish Club Barcelona.  His father, Jorge, was a factory worker and his mother, Celia, was a house cleaner.  Lionel has two older brothers and a sister.

CLUB CAREER

Lionel Messi started playing football at a very early age in his hometown's Newell's Old Boys. From the age of 11, he suffered from a hormone deficiency and as Lionel's parents were unable to pay for the treatment in Argentina, they decided to move to Barcelona, Spain.
In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his first team debut in a friendly with Porto that marked the opening of the new Dragao stadium. The following championship-winning season, Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, in Barcelona's derby win against Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium (0-1).
With several first team players seriously injured, the services of several reserve team players were called upon, and Messi became a regular feature of Barça squads. On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona - against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old.
In 2006 Messi established himself as one of the leaders of the first team.  His skills with the ball earned him a comparison with one of the greatest soccer players in history, Diego Maradona.  For a 17 year old boy, that was the highest compliment he could get.  In fact, only a year later, Messi proved the "new Maradona" tag was not all hype, by near-replicating Maradona's most famous goals in the space of the single season. On April 18th, 2007, Messi scored two goals against Getafe, one of which was very similar to the goal scored by Maradona during the 1986 FIFA World Cup agains England.
Playing for Barcelona Messi has scored over 50 goals and has earned numerous team and personal achievement awards.  Most notably, he won La Liga title three times and UEFA Champions League twice.  His unbelievable perfomance has earned him a lot of money.  It is said that a new contract is under negotiations which will set his transfer fee at US$426 million with annual salary of US$14 million.  In one of the interviews after winning the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar, Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola said that Messi was the best player he had ever seen.  What is even more amazing is that Messi is only 22 years old and has his whole career ahead of him.

NATIONAL TEAM CAREER

Messi debuted for Argentina in June 2004, playing a friendly match agains Paraguay.  In 2005 he won FIFA Youth World Championship and earned a Golden Ball and Golden Shoe for the most goals scored.  During 2006 World Cup, Messi became the youngest player to play for Argentina when he came on as a substitute in the game against Serbia.  He has played in 2007 Copa America and 2008 Summer Olympics which he won. 


PERSONAL INFO

Messi has dual citizenship of Argentina and Spain... Plans to wed his girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo in 2010... Nickname "New Maradona".

TITLES AND AWARDS

Barcelona

La Liga: 2005, 2006, 2009
Copa del Rey: 2009
UEFA Champions League: 2006, 2009
Spanish Super Cup: 2005, 2006, 2009
UEFA Super Cup: 2009

International

FIFA under-20 World Cup: 2005
Summer Olympics: 2008
Argentine Player of the Year: 2005, 2007