messi

Argentina and Barcelona Forward Lionel Messi: Goal Scoring Genius

Despite being diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency at a young age, this would not halt his footballing rise, as Lionel Messi’s groundbreaking talent for football soon caught the eye of Barcelona scouts, who offered to pay for his medical condition in exchange that he joined their youth academy. He subsequently joined Barcelona which later earmarked the beginning of the career of Lionel Messi.

Winning Trophies at Barcelona

Lionel Messi made his Barcelona debut in the 2004-2005 season under then coach Frank Rijkaard, where he fluently flourished towards being established as a first team regular and whilst playing side by side with greats at the time in Ronaldinho, Deco and Samuel Eto’o, he helped his Barcelona team win La Liga and Champions League trophies galore. In particular the 2008-2009 season where Messi played a pivotal role in aiding Barcelona towards a historic feat by winning an unprecedented treble. Arguably one of his most prestigious moment ‘s came during the 2009-2010 season when at the young age of 22 he captured the FIFA World Player Of The Year Award.

Comparisons With The Great Diego Maradona

Being a diminutive figure at 5 foot 7, a phenomenal dribbler of the ball with exquisite finishing proven by his vast array of stunning goals throughout his career, hence earned comparisons with the legendary Argentina striker Diego Maradona. In 2007 in a Cup semi final game against Getafe, Messi scored a goal in close similarity to Diego Maradona’s famous goal against England at the 1986 World Cup, by running from the halfway line whilst dribbling his way past half the team before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting the ball home.

Lionel Messi at FIFA World Cup 2010

Fans around the globe expected the Argentina forward to set the World Cup on fire after his sparkling 2009-2010 season with Barcelona, where he netted a sensational 47 goals to help Barcelona retain their domestic crown ahead of rivals Real Madrid. With Diego Maradona manager of the national side, observers touted Argentina as a potent threat for the FIFA World, due to the plethora of stars they possessed in their squad. Messi led the attack for the South American’s, along with Real Madrid hitman Gonzalo Higuain and Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez, who all played vital roles that enabled Argentina to progress smoothly from the group stages, after winning all three of their games against Nigeria, South Korea and Greece. Messi however, failed to score a single goal in the group stages, despite repeated attempts on goal that were constantly repelled by goalkeeping excellence from the opposition.