'Lionel Messi' the superstar of football

Leonel Messy, born 24 June 1987 is an Argentine footballer who currently plays for FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team as a forward or winger. He also holds Spanish citizenship, which makes him eligible as a EU player. Considered one of the best football players of his generation and frequently cited as the world's best contemporary player,Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player prize.He also won the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or at the age of 23.His playing style and ability have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi his "Duplicate".

Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified by Barcelona.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 matches. 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, equaling Ronaldo's record total for Barcelona. He finally surpassed this record in the 2010–11 season scoring his 49th goal in April.

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 honor, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team. Messi made his official debut for the first-team on 16 November 2003 aged 16 years and 145 days, in a friendly match against Porto.Less than a year later, Frank Rijkaard let him make his league debut against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004 at 17 years old becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga. This record broken by Barca team mate 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 until it was again broken by Bojan Krkić in 2007, scoring from a Messi assist. Messi said about his ex-coach Rijkaard: "I'll never forget the my ex-coach Rijkaard who launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only sixteen or seventeen years old.