LIONEL MESSI

Sumber:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Messi

LIONEL MESSI

 name Lionel Andrés Messi^{[note 1]}Date of birth24 June 1987 (age 29)Place of birthRosario, ArgentinaHeight1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)^[1]Playing positionForwardClub information

Current team

BarcelonaNumber10Youth career1994–2000Newell's Old Boys2001–2004BarcelonaSenior career*YearsTeamApps(Gls)2003–2004Barcelona C10(5)2004–2005Barcelona B22(6)2004–Barcelona357(320)National team^‡2004–2005Argentina U2018(14)2008Argentina U235(2)2005–Argentina115(56)

Honours

Representing  ArgentinaSouth American U-20 Championship2005 ColombiaFIFA U-20 World CupWinner2005 NetherlandsCopa AméricaRunner-up2007 VenezuelaRunner-up2015 ChileRunner-up2016 United StatesOlympic Games2008 BeijingFIFA World CupRunner-up2014 Brazil

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 November 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 November 2016

Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi]; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professionalfootballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in history to win five FIFA Ballons d'Or, four of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes.^{[note 2]} With Barcelona he has won eightLa Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as four Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for most goals scored in La Liga, a La Liga season (50), a football season (82), and a calendar year (91), as well as those for most assists made in La Liga and the Copa América. He has scored over 400 senior career goals for club and country.

Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. Despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing 2007 as a finalist for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, a feat he repeated the following year. His first uninterrupted campaign came in the 2008–09 season, during which he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins.

Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive FIFA Ballons d'Or, including an unprecedented fourth. His personal best campaign to date was the 2011–12 season, in which he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as Barcelona's all-time top scorer in official competitions in March 2012. He again struggled with injury during the following two seasons, twice finishing second for the Ballon d'Or behind Cristiano Ronaldo, his perceivedcareer rival. Messi regained his best form during the 2014–15 campaign, breaking the all-time goalscoring records in both La Liga and the Champions League in November 2014,^{[note 3]} and led Barcelona to a historic second treble.