Part 2: Player Profile – Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, with his goal scoring record, was able to equal out the Brazilian legend Ronaldo; who also managed to score 34 goals in a single season while he was playing for Barcelona. Not only did he manage to touch that mark, he simply made the season remarkable for himself and wrote his name in the history books by scoring the 100th goal for Barcelona, which came off against Sevilla.
Later, he even managed to over-take the Brazilian striker, Rivaldo’s record by scoring the most goals in the Champions League for Barcelona. With such amazing performances throughout the season, he got the La Liga player of the year award, but that award simply didn’t do justice to the Argentinean little man, as whatever he accomplished throughout the season exceded the award that he received in return.
The 2008-2009 season simply belonged to his club, Barcelona as they were “untouchable” throughout that season. They managed to win six trophies in a single year, which itself is a record. The 2009-2010 season started in the same way as Barcelona managed to take another trophy home by winning the UEFA Super Cup. The match was against Shakhtar Donetsk and it was Lionel Messi’s prominent assist to Pedro, who made no mistake and scored the winning goal of the match.
The trophies kept coming for Barcelona as time passed by and eventually they went on to face Estudiantes in the Club World Cup final in December. The match was simply thrilling and it was again the Argentinean striker, Lionel Messi, who took the winning strike by scoring the goal with his chest, while diving. The goal was also considered as one of the best goals of the season, for Barcelona. Estudiantes were defeated and it was because of Messi that day that the Catalan giants held the trophy for the sixth time during the year.
The win in Abu Dhabi was followed by the player of the year award in which Lionel Messi stood out and defeated Cristiano Ronaldo by a record margin. He even won the Ballon d’Or for himself and did not let any other player even touch him. Pep Guardiola’s triumph with Barcelona seemed nothing while Messi was busy bagging himself individual awards.
Even though Lionel Messi found the net at many occasions for his club, Barcelona; he couldn’t do the same at the international level. Just because of this, he was given the nickname “the Catalan” by the Argentinean fans. He only managed to score once throughout his run with Argentina, which was against Spain. However, it was Diego Maradona’s side that did not recognize Messi as an individual player and they lost the friendly match that day.
Lionel Messi’s World Cup came to an early end as the Argentineans were thrashed by the Germans in the quarter final stage. However, it wasn’t because of Lionel Messi’s failure, it was because of the “wrong tactics” that were adapted by Diego Maradona who was the coach of Argentina back then. Thus, he still has to prove himself in the Argentinean shirt as he did not manage to score even a single goal for the South American side.
Lionel Messi’s last year can be summed up by saying that he is writing the story of football for the 21st century. Messi totally eclipsed the rival club’s winger, Cristiano Ronaldo; who is always being compared to him. Trophies and titles are like Lionel Messi’s fuel and the goals that he scores at such a young age are only a “part” of the story that he is writing at the moment. He is definitely, if not the best, then one of the best players in the world. At the moment he is considered as the “best player in the world” because of the “player of the year” award that he earned last year.
Lionel Messi simply sums it up for everyone when he says:
“If it was for money, I’d just sit on the bench; I play simply because I love to play football.”
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