The greatest footballers of all time - No. 13

Continuing with our series on the greatest footballers of all time, here’s No. 13 on our list.

No. 13 – Lionel Messi

From a prodigy to a superstar in the blink of an eye, the Lionel Messi story has already churned out the stuff of legends. At the age of 24, Messi has won every prize in football except for the biggest one there is, the World Cup. The pint-sized footballer is one of the richest people on the face of the earth and has now been included in the ‘TIME 100′, a list of the hundred most influential people in the world. With a Facebook following of over 33 million, he has become the face of modern football.

No account of his life can do justice to his persona unless it runs into volumes, but here are a few snippets.

The Beginning

Yet another player from the list of great footballers to have started his career from the crowded bylanes of Argentina, Messi was born to a steel factory worker dad and a part-time cleaner mom. He was diagnosed with a growth deficiency syndrome at the age of 11, and his condition needed treatment worth over $900 a month. Have started playing football at the age of five, his talent was already turning heads by then, but the local clubs couldn’t afford his medical bills. A chance trial with Barcelona opened the doors for the youngster; Barcelona were willing to foot his bills, but only if he moved to Spain. Move he did, and he joined the club’s youth academy where he played alongside Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique.

Catalonia Youth

Once he was on-board the Catalonian ship, he kept going from strength to strength. His first three years saw him star for the youth sides where the goals kept coming. At the age of 16, Messi found his name on the first team in a friendly against Porto in the year 2003. His league debut followed the year after against RCD Espanyol, when he became the third youngest player ever to play for the Catalonian side. Bojan Krkic took that particular record away though; one of the very few Messi couldn’t do much about. Messi credited Frank Rijkaard for his debut, and expressed his gratitude very vocally.

Barcelona

Messi’s contract was upgraded till 2014 and he was awarded an improved package given his recently-achieved first-team status. He also obtained Spanish citizenship in 2006, and debuted in the Spanish first division. He scored six goals in 17 outings but suffered a blow when he tore a muscle in his thigh during a Champions League match against Chelsea. Barcelona went on to claim the La Liga and beat Arsenal in the final of the UEFA Champions League.

The comparisons to Maradona had begun, and the phenomenon had come into his own. The goals were becoming numbers and his stature kept growing. From 2006 to 2009, Messi scored 71 goals from 127 excursions in all competitions. The Ballon D’Or was the first laurel in the long list that was to follow. He had already won plenty of awards along the way, such as the ‘World Soccer Young Player of the Year’ from 2006 through 2008, but bigger things were in line.

When Ronaldinho bid goodbye, Messi took over from him and gave new meaning to the number 10 jersey. From 2008-2009 onwards, the goal tally never stooped below the 30 mark, reaching the apex last season, with a record-smashing 73 goals in all competitions. In 2008-2009, he became the top scorer in the Champions League and the youngest one ever to achieve that status. That year, his club won the Copa del Rey, the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League to complete a treble, making it the first time a Spanish club had achieved it. In 2009, Pep Guardiola called him the best player he had ever seen, and the club promptly renewed Messi’s contract till 2016 with an earth-shattering €250 million buyout clause which effectively put an end to any possible speculation.

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal FC Manager, compared Messi’s skill to a PlayStation figure, given his agility and versatility. Coincidentally, Messi was the face of the Pro Evolution Soccer in 2009 and 2011. Wenger made that comment right after a 4-1 loss to Barcelona in 2010, where Messi netted two, and surpassed Rivaldo as Barcelona’s highest scorer ever in all competitions. That year he won the La Liga Player of the Year award for the second time in a row. Messi is only the second player ever to have won three consecutive Ballon D’Or awards, in 2009, 2010 and 2011. He holds numerous records to his name, some almost impossible to beat, like the record for being the highest scorer in a UEFA Champions League game (5 goals) and the one for the most UEFA Champions League hat-tricks (3). His fastest hat-trick came in under 17 minutes, which is another mean feat.

International

Lionel Messi has pretty much done it all, except lift the World Cup trophy with Argentina. He was controversially offered a spot in the Spanish national side in 2004, which he declined. He first tasted success at the international level when he won the 2005 FIFA World Youth Cup in the Netherlands and took home the Golden Ball and the Golden Shoe after scoring 6 goals in the competition. His international debut came at the age of 18 against Hungary, when he came on in the 63^rd minute. But two minutes later, Messi was sent packing by the referee after he allegedly head-butted a player.

The 2006 World Cup saw Argentina bow out to Germany in the quarters, with Messi looking on from the bench. Messi went on to play for the side in the 2008 Summer Olympics where they won the gold medal. In 2009, Messi took the number 10 for his national side and played for the first time under the new national coach, Diego Maradona. But history repeated itself in the 2010 World Cup, when Argentina were knocked out by Germany, again in the quarters. Messi has scored a total of 22 goals from 68 appearances for the national side, which is a shadow of his form for the club.

A long way to go

That Messi is a spectacularly gifted player has never been in doubt. He has often been described as a magician, and not without reason. His speed and ball control are so breathtaking, they have to be seen to be believed. There is no sight in football as mesmerizing as a Messi run from the midfield. His attacking skills are as varied and nuanced as they are lethally effective. The ball seems to love his boots, and it seldom leaves them unless it is on its way to the back of the net. In terms of talent alone, the Argentine would probably figure in most people’s list of the 5 greatest footballers of all time.

But the debate still rages on about whether he will ever lift the coveted cup; nobody has really been able to explain why his performances see a clear dip when he wears the light blue jersey. That seems to be the final frontier for the man who is still only 24. He has at least 2 more World Cups to go, and he can certainly be expected to get more mature as time passes. His dexterity and agility are the talk of the town and he doesn’t seem to be easing up at the moment. Messi’s previous season tally, a feat that can probably be seen only once in a hundred years, suggests that he is just warming up now. Messi’s loyalty to the club is unquestionable, and there are strong indications that he will follow Paolo Maldini’s footsteps and play on at Barcelona his entire career. If that happens, Messi may well find himself considerably higher up this list by the time his career is over.

And now for the video tribute. There are almost too many videos on Messi out there, but here’s one that captures his most recent jaw-dropping exploits:

Here are the other players who have made it so far:

No. 20 – David Beckham; No. 19 – Oliver Kahn; No. 18 – Jurgen Klinsmann; No. 17 – Luis Figo; No. 16 – Romario; No. 15 – Marco van Basten; No. 14 – Eusebio

Read the detailed write-ups on all the players in this list here:

The greatest footballers of all time