Steven Truong Troop 299 Worlds Greatest Soccer Player: Lionel Messi Lionel Andres Messi, known as todays

greatest footballer, was born June 24, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. The Argentine came from humble origins- his father, a factory steel worker, and mother, a part time cleaner. At the age of five, Messi began his life journey in soccer when he played for the local club Grandoli, which was coached by his father. Eight years later, Messi transferred to Newells Old Boys- the club based in Rosario- and led the club to an undefeated streak for four years. However, by the age of eleven, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. Local clubs wanted to assist Messi in the payment for treatment, though they did not have enough money. Luckily, Carles Rexach- sporting director of FC Barcelona- was aware of Messis talent and condition, and offered to pay Messis medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. Thus, Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in the clubs youth academy. Throughout his stay in Barcelona, Messi would eventually rise to play in Barcelonas junior and reserve teams. He emerged as a talented player through the Barcelona Infantil B, Cadete B and A, FC Barcelona C, and FC Barcelona B. Before debuting for the latter two teams, Messi had already made an appearance for the first team on November 16th, 2003 against Porto when he was sixteen. Lionel Messi would be one of the youngest players to debut for the first team. In 2004, Messi was given his league debut for the first team by Coach Frank Rijkaard in Octoberbeing seventeen years old. He would be the youngest player to ever play for Barcelona and the La Liga. Furthermore, in 2005, before his birthday, Messi scored against Albacete Balompie as the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona. From the start of his career, Messi stated that Ill never forget the fact that he (Rijkaard) launched my career, that he had confidence in me while I was only

sixteen or seventeen. From this point onwards, Messi would evolve to be perhaps the greatest player in football history. Along his career, Messi rose to become a first team starter for FC Barcelona. Prior to his start, Messi was a regular substitute and played extremely well with the likes of Ronaldinho when on the attack. Throughout his seasons, Messi became a lethal weapon for Barcelona against their opponents due to his goal scoring abilities. Furthermore, Messi was compared to the legendary Diego Maradona for scoring two extremely similar goals- The Goal of the Century (taking on more than 7 players and scoring from a similar position like Maradona) and The Hand of God (Scoring with his hand when going for a header). Maradona himself has deemed Messi as his successor. With the rise of Lionel Messi, FC Barcelona also rose with many champion prizes and accolades. After the departure of Rikjaard, Barcelona would win the Treble- all three paramount championships in the footballing world. Under Josef Guardiola, Messi would become an even greater player when he won the Ballond Or in 2009- surpassing superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. Due to all his successes, Messi can be considered to be Barcelonas finest soccer player out of their La Masia youth system. In his international career, Messi has won the Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing 2008. However, he has yet to win a world cup title despite playing in two world cups- Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010. Apart from global international competitions, Messi has done well to establish Argentina as a strong international Southern American team. Nevertheless, Messi is proven to be the greatest soccer player present today. On this very date, December 9th, 2012, Messi has won three consecutive FIFA World Player of the Year awards, won three UEFA Champions League, two World Clubs, and countless awards for being the top goal scorer, or best young player. Furthermore, domestically in the La Liga, Messi has proven himself to be the most valuable player in Spain and all of Europe- along with Iniesta, Xavi, C. Ronaldo, etc. And on this day, Messi broke

Gerd Mullers record of 25 goals in a calendar year by one goal- being the player with the most goals in a year. Indeed, Messis football stardom can be described as magnificent since he is still only 25. What is it that makes Messi such a great soccer player? He is not tall, strong as others, or fast as others- though he is probably one of the fastest players. It is his dribbling and perspective of the field and game that allows him to surpass many players and establish himself as the most lethal offensive player in the world. With a quick change in direction and tempo, along with vision across the field to make pivotal plays during the game, Messi is perhaps the quintessential centre forward. He is described by critics and fellow players as unstoppable and out of this world. Despite having growth hormone deficiency, Messi can easily outplay contemporaries with a better build. His small size has shown to be his advantage against bigger players since he can maneuver quickly around them. Therefore, it is his size, skill, and feel of the game that establishes him as the best player in the world. In the end, Messi has not yet finished his career and there is much more to come from the young superstar. It is predictable that he will continue to break more records, and devastate more teams as the greatest soccer player. However, eventually, he will reach his peak and plateau, though it will be perhaps another 2 or more years until he does so. So until then, we, the people of the world can expect more from Lionel Messi.