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Revision as of 18:49, 18 June 2006
| File:Lionel messi argentina mundial holanda200x140.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lionel Andrés Messi | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | FC Barcelona | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 7 2006 | |||
Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine football (soccer) player, who currently plays as a second striker for FC Barcelona. He has shown remarkable ability for a player so young, and is often touted in the media as "the new Diego Maradona".
Lionel Messi started playing football at a very early age for his hometown club, Newell's Old Boys. From the age of 11, he suffered from a hormone deficiency. As his parents were unable to pay for treatment in Argentina, they decided to move to Barcelona, Spain. Shortly after arriving, Lionel tried his luck with a trial at FC Barcelona, despite being only 13 years of age. He excelled at the trial and rapidly found himself starting for the Barcelona B team, averaging more than a goal per game.
In October 2004 Messi made his official debut for the first team against RCD Espanyol, becoming the third-youngest player to ever play for FC Barcelona. He scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete on 2005-05-01 when Lionel was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old becoming the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona.
Messi was offered the chance to play for the Spanish national football team, but he declined, preferring to wait for the opportunity to play for the country of his birth. In June 2004 he got his chance, playing in an under-20 friendly match against Paraguay.
In June 2005 Messi starred for the Argentina U-20 team that won the Football World Youth Championship in Netherlands, picking up the Golden Boot as top scorer with 6 goals, and the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament. Despite his youth, Lionel was already being compared to Diego Maradona, one of the greatest football players of all time. On 2005-06-27 FC Barcelona renewed his contract until 2010, establishing a selling clause of €150 million.
On August 4, José Pekerman called him up to the senior Argentine national team. He made his debut against Hungary. However, he only played for three minutes of the game, being shown a red card and making him leave the field in his first attempt on goal. Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on September 25 and was finally able to make his debut in this season's Spanish First Division. He had previously been unable to play because FC Barcelona had filled their quota of non-EU players. Messi's first outing in the UEFA Champions League at the Nou Camp was on September 28 against the Italian club Udinese. He impressed with some great passing and a seemingly telepathic relationship with Ronaldinho that earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000-odd Nou Camp faithful. On December of that year, the Italian newspaper Tuttosport awarded him the Golden Boy 2005 title for the best under-21 player in Europe, ahead of Wayne Rooney and Lukas Podolski.
An injury kept him from playing for two months at the end of the 2005/06 league, and jeopardized his presence in the
. Nonetheless, Messi was selected in the Argentina squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup on May 15, 2006. He also played in the farewell match against the Argentinian U-20 team and a friendly against Angola. Messi started on the bench in the first match against Côte d'Ivoire national football team in the World Cup, but he didn't come into the game. In the next match against Serbia and Montenegro, Messi came in as a late substitute to assist on Hernán Crespo's goal within minutes of entering the game and also scored the final goal in a 6-0 victory.
External links
- Lionel Messi biography at FC Barcelona website
- Lionel Messi fansite
- Lionel Messi weblog
Template:Argentina Squad 2006 World Cup
| FC Barcelona – current squad | |
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