Messi began playing football at a young age and his potential was quickly identified 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 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.
Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 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 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.
1 Early life
2 Club career
2.1 Barcelona
2.1.1 2005–06 season
2.1.2 2006–07 season
2.1.3 2007–08 season
2.1.4 2008–09 season
2.1.5 2009–10 season
2.1.6 2010–11 season
3 International career
3.1 2006 World Cup
3.2 2007 Copa América
3.3 2008 Summer Olympics
3.4 2010 World Cup
3.5 2011 Copa América
4 Outside football
4.1 Personal life
4.2 Charity
4.3 Media
5 Career statistics
5.1 Club
5.2 International
5.3 International goals
5.3.1 Under–20
5.3.2 Under–23
5.3.3 Senior team
6 Awards and honours
6.1 Club
6.2 Argentina
6.3 Individual
7 References
8 External links
Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe, to parents Jorge Horacio Messi, a factory steel worker, and Celia María Cuccittini, a part-time cleaner His paternal family originates from the Italian city of Ancona, from which his ancestor, Angelo Messi, emigrated to Argentina in 1883 He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and Matías as well as a sister named María Sol. At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father Jorge.In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys who were based in his home city Rosario.At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency 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 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 Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a paper napkin Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain, so Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the club's youth academy
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
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