Lionel Messi Profile
Full name Lionel Andrés Messi[1]
Date of birth 24 June 1987 (age 24)[2]
Place of birth Rosario[2], Argentina
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Playing position Striker / Winger
Club information
Current club Barcelona
Number 10
Youth career
1995–2000 Newell's Old Boys
2000–2004 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2005 Barcelona B 22 (6)
2004– Barcelona 183 (127)
National team‡
2005 Argentina U20 7 (6)
2008 Argentina U23 5 (2)
2005– Argentina 62 (17)
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi Messi Copa America 2011 .jpg
Personal information
Full name Lionel Andrés Messi[1]
Date of birth 24 June 1987 (age 24)[2]
Place of birth Rosario[2], Argentina
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Playing position Striker / Winger
Club information
Current club Barcelona
Number 10
Youth career
1995–2000 Newell's Old Boys
2000–2004 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2005 Barcelona B 22 (6)
2004– Barcelona 183 (127)
National team‡
2005 Argentina U20 7 (6)
2008 Argentina U23 5 (2)
2005– Argentina 62 (17)
Honours[show]
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:58, 2 October 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:25, 21 September 2011 (UTC)
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi[3] (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team as a striker or winger. He is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation,[4][5][6] Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009[7][8][9][10] and 2010.[11] His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".[12][13]
Messi began playing football at a young age and his skill and potential was soon realized by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 2004–05 season, he broke his team record for the youngest footballer to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in the 2006–07 season; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clásico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Messi then had the most successful season of his playing career, the 2008–09 season, in which he scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign. This record-breaking season was then eclipsed in the following 2009–10 campaign, where Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo's record total for Barcelona. He surpassed this record again in the 2010–11 season with 53 goals in all competitions.
Messi has won five La Liga titles, three Champions League titles, scoring in two of those finals, against Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011. He was not on the pitch as Barcelona defeated Arsenal in 2006, but received a winners' medal from the tournament. After scoring 12 goals in the 2010–11 Champions League, Messi became only the third player (after Gerd Müller and Jean-Pierre Papin) to top-score in three successive European Champion Clubs' Cup campaigns. However, Messi is the first one to win the Champions League top scorer titles for three consecutive years after Champions League changed its format in 1992.[14]
Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year. In 2008, in Beijing, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team. At international level Messi has scored 17 goals in 62 games.
Early life
Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, to parents Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner.[15][16][17][18] His paternal family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883.[19][20] He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named María Sol.[21] At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge.[22] In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario.[22] At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.[23] The traditional River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his condition which cost $900 a month.[18] Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida, Catalonia, and Messi and his father were able to arrange a trial.[18] Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin.[24][25] Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the club's youth academy
International career
In June 2004, he debuted for Argentina, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay.[156] 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,[157] 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.[158][159] 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."[160] He then started his first game for Argentina against Peru; after the match Pekerman described Messi as "a jewel".[161]
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.[162]
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.[163] 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.
2011 Copa América
Messi took part in the Copa América in Argentina, where he failed to score a goal but notched three assists. He was selected man-of-the-match in matches against Bolivia (1–1) and Costa Rica (3–0). Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals in a penalty shoot-out against Uruguay (1–1 a.e.t.), with Messi scoring as the first penalty taker.
Outside football
Personal lifeMessi was at one stage romantically linked to Macarena Lemos, also from his hometown of Rosario. He is said to have been introduced to her by the girl's father when he returned to Rosario to recover from his injury a few days before the start of the 2006 World Cup.[188][189] He has in the past also been linked to the Argentine glamour model Luciana Salazar.[190][191] In January 2009 he told "Hat Trick Barça", a programme on Canal 33: "I have a girlfriend and she is living in Argentina. I am relaxed and happy".[191] He was seen with the girl, Antonella Roccuzzo,[192] at a carnival in Sitges after the Barcelona-Espanyol derby. Roccuzzo is a fellow native of Rosario.[193]
Messi has two cousins also involved in football: Maxi, a winger for Club Olimpia of Paraguay, and Emanuel Biancucchi, who plays as a midfielder for Spain's Girona FC.[194][195]
Lionel Andrés Messi
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