Messi , The best player in the world

Messi Biography

Personal biography
Messi is also captain of the Argentina national and has played in two World Cups (2006 and 2010) and two Copa Americas (2007 and 2011). In the summer of 2008 he also played at the Beijing Olympics, and came home with a gold medal.

Leo Messi, with Four Ballon d'Or awards to his name (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) can be officially considered the best player in the world. But despite so many individual virtues, he is also a remarkable team player.

This Argentinian striker's footballing career started in 1995 at Newell's Old Boys, where he played until the year 2000. At the age of 13, Lionel Messi crossed the Atlantic to try his luck in Barcelona, and joined the Under 14s.

Messi made spectacular progress at each of the different age levels, climbing through the ranks to Barça C, followed by Barça B and the first team in record time.

In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his first team debut in a friendly with Porto that marked the opening of the new Dragao stadium.

The following championship-winning season, Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, in Barcelona's derby win against Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium (0-1). With several first team players seriously injured, the services of several reserve team players were called upon, and Messi became a regular feature of Barça squads.

On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona - against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old. That record would eventually be beaten by Bojan.

At the Under 20 World Cup in Holland, Messi not only won the title with Argentina, but was also the leading goalscorer and was voted best player in the tournament. Aged 18 years, he had become one of the hottest properties in the world game. Shortly after, he made his first full international appearance in a friendly against Hungary.

His breakthrough came in the 2005-06 season, starting with an amazing performance in the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Juventus. He was also outstanding at the Santiago Bernabéu, in Barcelona's unforgettable 3-0 win, and also at Stamford Bridge, in the Champions League match against Chelsea. Injury kept him sidelined for much of the latter stage of the season, but Messi still played a total of 17 league games, 6 in the Champions League and 2 in the Copa del Rey, and scored eight goals

The following season Messi moved up a gear and astounded the world with goals such as the one he scored against Getafe in the Copa del Rey. In the 2006/07 season, and even though the team didn't win any titles, the Argentine was second in the FIFA World Player awards and third in the Ballon d’Or. He continued to develop in the 2007/08 campaign, when he scored 16 goals and gave 10 assists in the 40 games he played in. In 2008, Leo Messi was runner up in the FIFA World Player awards for the second season in a row. In the 2008/09 season, and now without Ronaldinho alongside him, Messi became the main star of the Barça show. He managed to stay injury free all season, and played 51 games, scoring 38 goals. The Argentinian was also fundamental in the Copa del Rey and Champions League finals, scoring Barça's second goals in both. In 2009, he finally won both the FIFA World Player and Ballon d’Or.

How far can Leo Messi go? He was the league's top scorer in the 2009-10 season and equalled Ronaldo's historic total of 34 goals (96-97). He scored the goal against Estudiantes that won Barça the Club's first World Club Cup.

But without settling for that, the Argentinian went even further in the 2010/11 season, scoring no fewer than 53 official goals, a Spanish record only matched by Cristiano Ronaldo (that very same season). Messi, like in Rome, played a vital role in the Champions League final at Wembley were scored a scorcher from outside the area to put his team ahead. In 2011, he also won the Ballon d’Or for the third time, a feat only previously achieved by Cruyff, Platini and Van Basten.

The season 2011/12 is when Messi moves past César Rodríguez's record of 232 goals to become the Club's all time top goalscorer. He achieves this on the 20th of March 2012 in a 5-3 victory over Granada in which he scores a brilliant hat-trick.

Two days earlier, on March 7, 2012, the football world watched in awe as he scored five goals in a single game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

On May 5, 2012, the Leo Messi legend was extended in the derby against Espanyol, when he made it to an unprecedented 50 goals in a league season, having scored four goals in three different matches. A remarkable season ended with one of the finest goals of his career in the Copa del Rey final against Bilbao. In the 2011/12 season he has scored in every competition he played in, totally an astonishing 73 as Barça conquered the Spanish Supercup, European Supercup, Clubs World Cup and the Copa del Rey. He ended 2012 with the record number of goals in a calendar year (91), thus beating the historic tally established by Gerd Müller (85 for Bayern Munich and Germany in 1972).

History of the football or soccer

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Europe and the Americas. It has a vivid and interesting history in the world of sports. Early evidence of soccer being played as a sport finds occurrence in China during the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. In China, it was during the Han dynasty that people dribbled leather balls by kicking it into a small net. Recorded facts also support the fact that Romans and Greeks used to play ball for fun and frolic. Some facts point to Kyoto in Japan where kicking of ball was a popular sport.

It is said that early growth of the modern soccer started in England. Some amusing facts even mention that the first ball used was the head of some Danish brigand. It is said that during medieval times, the old form of soccer used to allow many ill practices like kicking, punching, biting and gouging. The main aim was to carry the ball to a target spot. People grew so fond of the game that they would throng the field all day long. Sometimes the competition grew fierce and masses got so wild that there were frequent incidents of violence during the game. It is also said that soldiers admired the game so much that they missed archery practice to watch it.

King Edward III banned soccer in 1365 owing to the growing incidents of violence and military indulgence in the sport. In 1424 King James I of Scotland also proclaimed in the Parliament— "Na man play at the Fute-ball" (No man shall play football)

When and where exactly did soccer start is a question that has no precise answer to it. You can easily say that this popular game has been played for more than three thousand years. The nativity of modern-day soccer must be credited to Britain. It was also known as the association football, with Scotland and England being the co-founders of the systematic game of soccer.

Modern History of Soccer: 18th Century onwards

In 1815, a major development took place that made soccer popular in Universities, Colleges and Schools. The popular English School and Eton College came forth with a set of rules, known as the Cambridge Rules. Football was segregated into two groups; some colleges and schools opted for Rugby rules that allowed tripping, shin kicking and also carrying the ball. These rules were exclusively prohibited as per the Cambridge rules.

The history of modern-day soccer was established in 1863. In October 1863, eleven representatives from London clubs and schools met at the Freemason’s Tavern to set up common fundamental rules to control the matches amongst themselves. The outcome of this meeting was the formation of the Football Association. In December 1863, the Rugby Football and Association football finally split as the supporters of the Rugby School rules walked out.

Firmly establishing the foundation of soccer in 1869, the Football Association strictly banned any kind of handling of the ball. Soccer’s popularity spread rapidly during the 1800s as British sailors, traders and soldiers introduced the sport to different parts of the globe.

Italians, Austrians and Germans drew to Europe, while Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil adopted the sport in South America. FIFA was established in the year 1904 and by early 1930s, different leagues were operating from various countries. FIFA is credited with organizing the first world cup in Uruguay. The history of soccer is rich with events, development and its growing craze all over the world. You will find yourself amazed as you learn about different times of this wonderful sport that has held our awe and admiration for over 3000 years.

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