Barcelona
Less than a year later the debut, Frank Rijkaard let him make his league debut against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga. This record was broken by Bojan Krkić in September 2007. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, ten months and seven days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona[25] until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist.[26] Messi said about his ex-coach Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the fact that he launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen."[27] During the season, Messi played also in Barcelona B (Segunda División B) scoring 6 goals in 17 matches.
2005–06 season
—Diego Maradona, on the consequences if Messi won the 2010 World Cup[28]
Messi netted six goals in 17 league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. His season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006, however, when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea.[31] Rijkaard's Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.[32][33]
2006–07 season
In the 2006–07 season, Messi established himself as a regular first team player, scoring 14 times in 26 matches.[34] On 12 November, in the game against Real Zaragoza, Messi suffered a broken metatarsal, ruling him out for three months.[35][36] Messi recuperated from his injury in Argentina, and his return to action came against Racing Santander on 11 February,[37] where he came on as a second-half substitute. On 11 March, El Clásico saw Messi in top form, scoring a hat-trick to earn 10-man Barcelona a 3–3 draw, equalising three times, with the final equaliser coming in injury time.[38] In doing so he became the first player since Iván Zamorano (for Real Madrid in the 1994–95 season) to score a hat-trick in El Clásico.[39] Messi is also the youngest player ever to have scored in this fixture. Towards the end of the season he began finding the net more often; 11 of his 14 league goals for the season came from the last 13 games.[40]
2007–08 season
Messi was nominated for a FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward.[50] A poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper Marca had him as the best player in the world with 77 percent of the vote.[51] Columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport stated that the Ballon d'Or should be given to Messi, a view supported by Franz Beckenbauer.[52] Football personalities such as Francesco Totti have declared that they consider Messi to be one of the current best footballers in the world.[53]
Messi was sidelined for six weeks following an injury on 4 March when he suffered a muscle tear in his left thigh during a Champions League match against Celtic. It was the fourth time in three seasons that Messi suffered this type of injury.[54] After coming back from the injury Messi scored his last goal of 2007–08 season against Valencia CF on 4 May 2008 in a 6–0 win. When the season was over Messi managed to score 16 goals and assisted 13 times in all competition.
2008–09 season
Upon Ronaldinho's departure from the club, Messi inherited his number 10 jersey.[55] On 1 October 2008, during a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk, Messi scored two goals during the last seven minutes, after coming on as a substitute for Thierry Henry, to turn a 1–0 deficit to a 2–1 victory for Barcelona.[56] The next league game was versus Atlético Madrid, a match billed as a friendly battle between Messi and his good friend Sergio Agüero.[57] Messi scored a goal from a free kick and assisted another as Barça went on to win the match 6–1.[58] Messi netted another impressive brace against Sevilla scoring a volley from 23 metres (25 yd) and then dribbling round the goalkeeper and scoring from a tight angle for the other.[59] On 13 December 2008, during the first Clásico of the season, Messi scored the second goal in Barcelona's 2–0 win over Real Madrid.[60] He was also named second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards with 678 points.Messi scored his first hat-trick of 2009 in a Copa del Rey tie against Atlético Madrid which Barcelona won 3–1.[61] Messi scored another important double on 1 February 2009, coming on as a second half substitute to help Barcelona defeat Racing Santander 1–2 after being 1–0 down. The second of the two strikes was Barcelona's 5000th league goal.[62] In the 28th round of La Liga, Messi scored his 30th goal of the season in all competitions, helping his team to a 6–0 victory over Málaga CF in the process.[63] On 8 April 2009, he scored twice against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, setting a personal record of eight goals in the competition.[64] On 18 April, Messi notched his 20th league goal of the season in a 1–0 win at Getafe, allowing Barcelona to maintain their six-point advantage at the top of the league table over Real Madrid.[65]
As Barcelona's season was drawing to a close, Messi scored twice (his 35th and 36th goals in all competitions) to cap a 6–2 win over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu[66] in what was Real's heaviest defeat since 1930.[67] After scoring each goal, he ran towards the fans and the cameras lifting up his Barcelona jersey and showing another T-shirt that read Síndrome X Fràgil, Catalan for Fragile X Syndrome, to show his support for children who suffer from the affliction.[68] Messi was involved in the build-up to Andrés Iniesta's injury time goal against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final to send Barcelona through to face Manchester United in the final. He won his first Copa del Rey on 13 May, scoring one goal and assisting another two, in a 4–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao.[69] He helped his team win the double by winning La Liga. On 27 May he helped Barcelona win the Champions League by scoring a second goal in the 70th minute giving Barcelona a two goal lead; he also became the top scorer in the Champions League, the youngest in the tournament's history, with nine goals.[70] Messi also won the UEFA Club Forward of the Year: and the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year rounding off a spectacular year in Europe.[71] This victory meant Barcelona had won the Copa del Rey, La Liga and Champions League in the one season,[72] and was the first time a Spanish club had ever won the treble.[73]
2009–10 season
Messi was named winner of the 2009 Ballon d'Or on 1 December 2009, beating runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo by largest ever margin of 473 to 233.[81][82][83] Afterwards, France Football magazine quoted Messi as saying: "I dedicate it to my family. They were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me."[84]
On 19 December, Messi scored the winner in the final of the 2009 Club World Cup against Estudiantes in Abu Dhabi, giving the club their sixth title of the year.[85] Two days later, he was given the FIFA World Player of the Year award, beating Cristiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Kaká and Andrés Iniesta to the award. This was the first time he had won the award, and he became the first Argentinean to ever receive this honour.[86] On 10 January 2010, Messi scored his first hat-trick in 2010 and his first hat-trick of the season against CD Tenerife in the 0–5 victory,[87] and on 17 January he scored his 100th goal for the club in the 4–0 victory over Sevilla.[88]
Messi then started an impressive run scoring 11 goals in five games. First he scored on the 84th minute against Málaga CF for a 2–1 win,[89] then he scored two goals against UD Almería in a 2–2 tie.[90] He continued his spree with an impressive week where he scored eight goals; he started by scoring a hat-trick against Valencia CF in a 3–0 home win,[91] then he scored two goals against Stuttgart, in a 4–0 win that secured Barcelona's qualification to the quarterfinals of the Champions League,[92] and finally he scored another hat-trick against Zaragoza in a 4–2 away win,[93] becoming the first Barcelona player to score back-to-back hat-tricks in La Liga.[94] He played his 200th official match for Barcelona against Osasuna on 24 March 2010.[95]
"Once he's on the run, Messi is unstoppable. He's the only player who can change direction at such a pace." "He is the best player in the world by some distance. He's (like) a PlayStation. He can take advantage of every mistake we make."
2010–11 season
On 21 August 2010, Messi scored a hat-trick in his first start of the season in a 4–0 victory over Sevilla FC in the Supercopa de España, helping Barcelona secure their first trophy of the season after a 1–3 first leg loss.[109] He also began his league season with a goal, scoring after just three minutes against Racing Santander on 29 August 2010. He then continued his excellent form into the UEFA Champions League group stage match against Panathinaikos where he scored two goals, assisted another two and also hit the frame of the goal on two separate occasions.On 19 September 2010, Messi suffered an ankle injury due to an ill-advised tackle by Atlético Madrid defender Tomáš Ujfaluši in the 92nd minute of their Round 3 match at the Vicente Calderón Stadium. At first sight it was feared that Messi suffered a broken ankle that could have kept the star player away from the pitch for a minimum of six months, but MRI performed the next day in Barcelona showed he suffered a sprain in the internal and external ligaments of his right ankle.[110] Team-mate David Villa stated "the tackle on Messi was brutal" after watching the video of the play and also added that he believed the Atlético defender "didn't go into the tackle to hurt".[111] The incident caused widespread media attention and brought up the debate of equality in protecting all players in the game.
When Messi recovered he scored in a 1–1 tie against RCD Mallorca. He then scored another brace on the UEFA Champions League against København and helped the team to a 2–0 home win.[112] He continued his impressive scoring run with braces against Zaragoza and Sevilla. After a prolific October, he started November scoring on an away 1–1 tie against København and an away 3–1 win against Getafe where he also assisted team-mates David Villa and Pedro Rodríguez.[113] In the next fixture against Villarreal CF, he scored combining with Pedro, which gave Barcelona a 2–1 lead. He scored another goal and Barcelona won 3–1. This was the 7th consecutive match in which Messi scored, breaking his own previous record of 6. He also achieved the feat of scoring 50 goals in the calender year of 2010 with the 1st goal, while with the second goal, he achieved the same feat again, this time considering the goals he scored wearing a Barcelona shirt in 2010. Against Almería he scored his second hat-trick of the season in an impressive 8–0 away win, the second goal was his 100th La Liga goal.[114] He scored on his ninth game in a row (10th including a friendly against Brazil) on a 3–0 away win against Panathinaikos.[115]
Messi's goalscoring run ended on 29 November at El Clásico but Barcelona still managed to win 5–0 with Messi assisting Villa twice.[116] The next match day he scored a brace and gave an assist against Osasuna.[117] He followed with another brace against Real Sociedad.[118] In El Derbi, a match Barcelona won 1–5, he assisted teammates Pedro and Villa to score one goal each.[119] His first goal in 2011 came against Deportivo La Coruña with a free kick on a 4–0 away win, where he once again assisted both Pedro and Villa.[120]
Messi won the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating his Barcelona teammates Xavi and Iniesta.[121] Messi had been nominated for the awards for the fourth consecutive year.[122] Only two days after he won the award he scored his first hat-trick of the year and third of the season against Real Betis.[123] He began the second round of the league with a goal, scoring his second penalty against Racing Santander.[124] After scoring the penalty kick, Messi revealed a message on his undershirt that said, "Happy birthday, mami.".[125] He continued his goalscoring form with a brace against Almería in the Copa del Rey semifinal,[126] and followed it up with another brace less than a week later against Hércules CF.[127] On 5 February, Barcelona broke the record for most consecutive league wins with 16 victories after they defeated Atlético Madrid 3–0 at the Camp Nou.[128] Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to ensure the victory for his side and after the match he stated, "it's an honor to be able to pass a record set by a great like Di Stéfano" and "if the record has been around for so long is because it's very complicated to achieve and we have reached it by defeating a very difficult team who's going through a bad situation, which makes it even more difficult."[129]
After two scoreless games, he scored the winner against Athletic Bilbao in which Barcelona won 2–1.[130] The next week he scored the first header of the season against RCD Mallorca on a 3–0 away win.[131] This victory was the equalising a La Liga record set by Basque club Real Sociedad in the 1979–80 campaign with a 19 unbeaten away matches. The record was broken after three days later when Messi scored the only goal on an away victory over Valencia.[132] On 8 March, Messi scored two goals against Arsenal in a UEFA Champions League match at the Camp Nou, helping Barcelona win 3–1 and qualify to the quarter-finals of the competition.[133] After failing to score for a month he scored a brace against UD Almería; the second goal was his 47th of the season, equalling his club record return of the previous season.[134] He surpassed his record on 12 April 2011 by scoring the winner against Shakhtar Donetsk in a UEFA Champions League game, which put him in the record book as all time top scorer in a single season for Barcelona.[135] He scored his eight goal on El Clásico on a 1–1 tie at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. On 23 April, Messi scored his 50th goal of the season against CA Osasuna in a 2–0 home victory which he came on as a substitute in the 60th minute.[136]
In the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, he gave a memorable performance, scoring twice against Real Madrid in a 2–0 win, the second goal (a dribble past several players) being acclaimed as one of the best ever at that stage of the competition.[137][138] At the Champions League Final at Wembley, Messi scored the eventual game-clinching goal to give Barcelona their third title in six years and fourth overall.[139]
2011–12 season
Messi started the season by lifting the Spanish Supercup with Barcelona, scoring three goals and providing two assists in a 5–4 aggregate win against Real Madrid.[140] His vital interventions continued in the next official match played against Porto when he scored again following a weak back pass from Fredy Guarín before setting up Cesc Fàbregas to give Barcelona a 2–0 victory and the UEFA Super Cup,[141] the only official competition that remained for him to score in.[142] Messi's La Liga campaign began with two goals against Villarreal CF[143] and he would go on to score hat-tricks in back to back home games against CA Osasuna[144] and Atlético Madrid.[145]Messi showed in a league game against CA Osasuna on 17 September, why he is considered the best footballer in the world, on and off the field. After scoring his first goal of an eventual hat-trick in an 8–0 rout, Messi produced his special celebration for Soufian, a 10-year-old Moroccan boy with Laurin Sandrow syndrome, a rare medical condition that can eventually lead to the loss of the lower extremities. Whilst Messi usually points to the sky after scoring a goal, Messi slapped his thighs as a dedication to Soufian.[146]
On August, Messi became the second highest goalscorer surpassing László Kubala on 194 goals, being behind only by César Rodríguez Álvarez on 235 goals in all official competitions.[147]
On 28 September, Messi scored his first two Champions League goals of the season against BATE Borisov,[148] becoming Barcelona's second highest goalscorer in its history, tying László Kubala, at 194 goals in all official competitions.[149] He surpassed that record when he scored two goals against Racing de Santander.[150] He came just one goal from the 200 mark after another home hat-trick against RCD Mallorca and became second in Barcelona's La Liga goalscorers list with 132 goals, one more than Kubala.[151] He scored his 200th Barcelona goal and two more as part of a hat-trick in his next game against Viktoria Plzeň in the Champions League.[152] He scored his first goal ever at San Mamés with an injury time equalizer for a 2–2 draw against Athletic Bilbao.[153] He followed that with a goal against Real Zaragoza.[154] He scored a penalty in a 3–2 away win against Milan in the 2011–12 Champions League group stage.[155] He also scored for the first time against Rayo Vallecano on a 4–0 home win.[156] Followed by a goal against Levante UD on a 5–0 home win.[157]
Messi scored a brace on the Club World Cup Final against Santos FC and was recognized as the man of the match and also awarded the Golden Ball for his performance during the tournament.[158]
Messi won the 2011 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award, beating his FC Barcelona team-mate Xavi Hernández and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi won the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or, beating again his team-mate Xavi and Cristiano Ronaldo. By winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or again, Messi become the fourth player to win three Ballon d'Ors, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballon d'Ors, after Michel Platini (however, two of his Ballon d'Ors are FIFA Ballon d'Ors, which he won consecutively).
International career
In June 2004, he debuted for Argentina, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay.[159] In 2005 he was part of a team that won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. There, he won the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe,[160] scoring in the last four of Argentina's matches and netting a total of six for the tournament.He made his full international debut on 17 August 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18. He was substituted on during the 63rd minute, but was sent off on the 65th minute because the referee, Markus Merk, found he had headbutted defender Vilmos Vanczák, who was tugging Messi's shirt. The decision was contentious and Maradona even claimed the decision was pre-meditated.[161][162] Messi returned to the team on 3 September in Argentina's 1–0 World Cup qualifier away defeat to Paraguay. Ahead of the match he had said "This is a re-debut. The first one was a bit short."[163] He then started his first game for Argentina against Peru; after the match Pekerman described Messi as "a jewel".[164]
On 28 March 2009, in a World Cup Qualifier against Venezuela, Messi wore the number 10 jersey for the first time with Argentina. This match was the first official match for Diego Maradona as the Argentina manager. Argentina won the match 4–0 with Messi opening the scoring.[165]
On 17 November 2010, Messi scored a last-minute goal against South American rivals Brazil after an individual effort to help his team to a 1–0 win in the friendly match, which was held in Doha. This was the first time that he had scored against Brazil at senior level.[166] Messi scored another last-minute goal on 9 February 2011 against Portugal in a penalty kick which he give his side a 2–1 victory in the friendly match, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland.
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