Lionel Messi - A Superstar

Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward player for Spanish club Barcelona as well as the Argentina national team. He is the captain of both FC Barcelona and Argentina's national team. This player is appraised as the best player in the world and widely considered one of the best footballers of all time. Lionel Messi has spent his whole professional career playing for Barcelona. He has scored over 700 goals for the club and country. Lionel Messi is a 33-year aged legend born on 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina.

Lionel Messi’s football career began in 1995 at Newell’s Old Boys. There he played until the year 2000 and at the age of 13, he got to try his luck in Barcelona and joined the under-14 team. He then scored 21 goals in just 14 games for the under-14 team and made it through the higher level team. At the age of 16, Messi made his informal debut with FC Barcelona in a friendly match. In 2004, Messi made his official debut in the same club and being only 17, he became the youngest official player and goal scorer in the Spanish La Liga. Since then, he is the most versatile player on the field. A left-footed, fast, meticulous in control of the ball, Lionel Messi was an ardent pass distributor and could easily make his way through loaded defenses. He got his Spanish citizenship in 2005. The next year Messi assisted Barcelona and won the Champions League title. In March 2012, he scored his 233rd goal for Barcelona and became the club’s all-time leading scorer in La Liga being only 24 years old.

Messi has won a total of 34 trophies in his entire career with Barcelona which includes ten La Liga titles, four UEFA Champions League titles, and six Copas del Rey. One of the best athletes in the world, Lionel Messi has been sponsored by Adidas since 2006 and has entrenched himself as their leading brand endorser. According to some football magazines, he was the world’s highest-paid footballer for five years between 2009-2014. He was ranked the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes in 2019. Messi was amid Time’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and 2012. In 2020, Lionel Messi was awarded the Laureus World Sportsmen of the Year.

By: Hardik Pandey
School: DAV public school
Class: 10th