Top five games that announced the arrival of future stars

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Cristiano Ronaldo ran riot against Manchester United in the 2003 friendly fixture

#1: LIONEL MESSI (FC BARCELONA VS REAL MADRID)

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Messi celebrating the second goal of his first ever career hat-trick versus Real Madrid.

Imagine scoring a hat-trick against a Real Madrid of Van Nistelrooy, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos and Casillas, at a tender age of nineteen. Yes. That's how old Lionel Messi was when his three goals salvaged an exciting 3-3 draw for Barcelona at the Camp Nou. It was that day Real Madrid knew how the Argentine magician would haunt them in the years to come.

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Playing in his first ever El Clasico, Messi scored his first goal on a Samuel Eto'o pass, arriving on the right edge of the penalty box and slotting it in the left bottom corner beyond Iker Casillas.

The second goal came when Messi capitalized on a failed Ronaldinho shot, levelling the score right before the half time. But, as luck would have it, It was Madrid again who took the lead in the second half through Sergio Ramos. The fans had to wait until the stoppage time when Messi produced another moment of sheer brilliance.The mighty Brazilian made a deft pass to Messi, who rounded off Ramos and Salgado before scoring the equalizer.

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Little did anyone know that the boy from Rosario would go on to be the best ever that played the game.

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Edited by Shambhu Ajith
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