Lionel Messi

It is difficult to imagine a person who is into football and still has not heard of Lionel Messi. This talented guy was born in 1987 in Argentina but still being so young he managed to win a great number of both individual and team trophies as well as get the Argentina national team captain’s armband and become the ‘new Maradona’.

His career began in an unremarkable Argentinian club where his father used to play. After moving to Barcelona at the age of 11, in some 2 years Lionel managed to join the Barcelona youth team. Already then he had high level football displays, could glide past defenders and was among top scorers.

Messi played his first match in Barcelona’s main squad in 2004. His game level was excellent throughout the whole season. Despite his young age he was not inferior to his more experienced teammates in certain game aspects. With every season Lionel grew into a more skilful and competent player thanks to knowledgeable coaches and unquestionable talent. Messi managed to perfect his dribbling technique and speed. Moreover, his shot accuracy can be a source of envy for many players. Lionel is a universal player who displays excellent both when finishing the attacks with his perfect final shot and goal-scoring flair and when an attacking midfielder who makes excellent goal assists for his teammates. Moreover, Lionel frequently supports defending activities and displays rather good professional defenders’ skills.

Messi won a great number of trophies with Barcelona including the UEFA Champions League. He was awarded the European Golden Shoe and Ballon d’Or several times as well as won the UEFA Best Player in Europe. At the Olympics in Beijing Messi won the gold medal with the Argentina national team. His displays have been assessed by many footballers and pundits and almost all of them agree there is still no defender who could guarantee stopping Messi’s glides. Playing against him necessitates skilful team activities which he proved many a time scoring magnificent goals thanks to individual skills only.

Lionel images are on covers of the two most popular football computer games and he is also a frequent star in commercials.