Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
Lionel Messi is born in Rosario 24 June 1987
Lionel Messi is an Argentine soccer player who plays as a striker or midfielder . [ 7 ] [ 8 ] has spent his entire career at FC Barcelona in the Primera Division of Spain and the Argentina team , of which he is captain . [ 9 ] [ 10 ]
It often considered the best player in the world, [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] and one of the best of all time, [ 16 ] is the first player in history who has won, among other distinctions , five times the Golden Ball - a Golden Ball and four FIFA Golden Ball - obtaining the first four consecutively; besides receiving five Gold Boots . [ 17 ]With Barcelona he has won 33 titles , including nine from La Liga and four from the UEFA Champions League , as well as six titles from the Copa del Rey.  [18] [19] [20]

Prolific goalscorer, ^{[ 21 ] [ 22 ]} holds, among others , the record for most goals in a season and a calendar year, ^{[ 23 ] [ 24 ]} top scorer in La Liga , the Supercopa of Spain , the Supercopa of Europe , and non-European player with more goals in the UEFA Champions League ; besides being the top scorer of FC Barcelona and the Argentine National Team . He is one of the players with more assists, since there are records, in official matches. ^{[ 25 ] [ 26 ] [ 27 ] [ 28 ]}

Born and raised in the city of Rosario , at age 13 he settled in Spain, where Barcelona agreed to pay for the treatment of the hormonal disease that had diagnosed him as a child. [ 29 ] After a rapid progression through the Barcelona Youth Academy , [ 30 ] he made his official debut with the first team at age 17, in October 2004. [ 31 ] Despite being prone to injuries at the beginning of his career, [ 32 ] he established himself as a fundamental player for the club. [ 33 ]

In 2007, he was a finalist for the Golden Ball and the FIFA World Player , a feat he repeated in 2008 . His first uninterrupted campaign was the 2008-09 season , during which with Barcelona he reached the first triplet of Spanish football. [ 34 ] At age 22, he won his first Golden Ball and the FIFA World Player of the Year award. [ 35 ] [ 36 ]

They followed three successful seasons , in which Messi won three FIFA Ballons of Gold, with which he added four in total, a fact that was unprecedented. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] So far, his best personal campaign is the 2011-12 season , in which he set the record for most goals in a season, both in La Liga and other European competitions, and became, in March 2012, in the club's top scorer in official competitions. [ 39 ] During the following two seasons, also suffered injuries, [ 40 ] [ 41] And lost the Golden Ball toCristiano Ronaldo, who is considered hisrival. Messi regained his best form during the2014-15 season, during which he exceeded the records of absolute top scorer in La Liga and the Champions League; [ 42 ] [ 43 ] won with Barcelona a historical second triplet [ 44 ] and also its Ballon. [45]

As an Argentine international , Messi has represented his country in eight major tournaments. A youth level, he won with the U-20 's FIFA U-20 World Cup 2005 tournament where he finished as best player and top scorer, [ 46 ] [ 47 ] , and a gold medal in the Olympic Games of 2008 , with the sub-23 . [ 48 ] Due to his play style of a small left-handed dribbler , [ 49 ] he was compared with his compatriot Diego Maradonawho, in 2007, declared the teenager his "successor". [ 50 ] [ 51 ] [ 52 ] After his debut in the senior team in August 2005, [ 53 ] [ 54 ] at the 2006 World Cup became the youngest Argentine to play and to score in a world cup [ 55 ] and reached, along with the albiceleste team, the final of the 2007 Copa America , where he was named the best young player in the tournament. [ 56 ]As captain since August 2011, [ 57 ] came with his team to the finals of the 2014 Brazil World Cup and Copa America 2015 , events in which he was voted player of the tournament, [ 58 ] [ 59 ] in addition to reaching the final of the Copa America Centenario . [ 60 ]