Lionel Messi is a football icon. We’ve known for a long time what a great player he is, but yesterday the Argentine confirmed his class. After winning the coveted World Cup, Messi lacks nothing and it can be said without any doubt that he is the best footballer in the history of football. He has won every major football competition in the world and won the most individual awards. In today’s article we will summarize all the achievements of the cosmic Argentine.
Nobody needs to convince about the sporting class of the PSG striker, because Lionel Messi leaves no illusions about his attitude on the pitch. For more than a decade he has not left the upper echelon and maintains a cosmic form. His game is a delight and, in addition, it brings measurable results. In club competitions, Messi has already achieved everything he could some time ago. His eternal pain was the national team. Despite the fact that ‘Albiceleste’ had a great squad for years, they weren’t able to translate that quality into trophies.
The picture of representation has begun to change over the past two years. Previously, Lionel Messi enjoyed many competitions as a national team player. The most disappointing was the 2014 World Cup and the Copa America a year later. Argentina lost both finals and Messi was so frustrated that after losing to Chile in the 2015 final, he decided to end his international career. However, it was a hasty decision on which he backtracked quickly, but he was still left disappointed.
The year 2021 brought the first serious success in the team. Argentina won the Copa America and Leo himself was named the tournament’s best player. This was the first harbinger of a marked improvement in the “Albiceleste” squad. The real explosion, however, took place during the World Cup which ended yesterday. Lionel Messi fulfilled his biggest sporting dream and became world champion with the national team. This triumph allows the Argentinian to flourish sportingly. He won everything he could and became the best of all time.
π ΒΏEs Leo Messi el MEJOR football player in history?
π NO
β₯οΈS pic.twitter.com/5e1hn6pIgDβ ππ΄π²π»ππ² πππ π΅οΈββοΈ (@Agente_FCB) December 13, 2022
Lionel Messi in the national team
Messi started his international career in 2005. He made his national team debut at the age of 18. He was then a rising star in football and slowly started to promote his name. By the time of the 2006 World Cup, he had made seven appearances for the national team, scoring one goal and providing three assists. However, he was already heading to the tournament held in Germany as a Champions League winner and a two-time Spanish champion. Argentina didn’t make a splash at the World Cup. They reached the quarter-finals, where they were stopped by the hosts, with Messi himself making three appearances, scoring one goal and providing one assist.
The first cats for the fences, so it’s time for more challenges. Already in 2007, the Copa America took place, in which Argentina took second place. In the final, they lost against Brazil and the Argentinian talent played a very good tournament. He was his team’s main player and played in every game, he also scored two goals and made one assist. It was Messi’s first unsuccessful final for the Albiceleste.
The next big tournament was the 2010 World Cup. By then, the Argentine had already become the best player in the world, but despite winning the Ballon d’Or, he couldn’t lead Argentina to the championship. “Albiceleste”, just like four years earlier, was eliminated in the quarter-finals against the German national team.
2011 is the second Copa America tournament in Messi’s career and another defeat. This time, the Argentines succumbed to the sensational Uruguay team already in the quarter-finals, and Leo himself recorded a very mediocre tournament.
The Argentinians had the highest hopes for the 2014 World Cup. The championship tournament returned to their continent and the national team led by Alejandro Sabella was one of the main candidates for the final triumph. Besides Messi, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero also starred in attack, and the defensive line was supported by Javier Mascherano and Pablo Zabaleta. At that time, the Argentines had an excellent team, almost destined for success. However, they suffered one of the most painful defeats in recent years. Once again, the executioner of the Argentines was the German team and Mario Goetze scored the winning goal in the final minutes of extra time. Lionel Messi suffered yet another defeat in the final as a national team player.
The frustrated Argentinians crumbled even further after losing the Copa America final in 2015. Chile proved to be better than them in the final itself, and Messi, in an act of desperation, decided to end his international career.
Until 2021, the Argentina national team suffered from a lack of success. Only last year’s Copa America tournament proved to be lucky for them. They used huge potential and Lionel Messi was named the tournament’s best player.
The upward trend continued and yesterday’s World Cup became Argentina’s biggest success since 1986. It was also a very successful tournament for the PSG striker. He has scored seven goals and added three assists in seven games. He was also voted best player of the tournament. Messi is the only player in history to win the World Cup Best Player award twice.
Leo Messi is the first player to win the Ballon d’Or in two Men’s World Cups π pic.twitter.com/qhM6U6ogkd
β B/R Football (@brfootball) December 18, 2022
Lionel Messi at the club
Leo Messi’s club career is almost the opposite of his international adventure. At the club, Messi achieved the greatest sporting successes from the start. Also the opposite is the course of the whole career. The Argentine is on a downward trend at the club. His greatest club successes date back a few years, and last season was his worst in over a decade. In the national team, it’s the opposite. It is now that Lionel Messi is living his best moment in the national colors.
Messi has spent most of his club career at FC Barcelona. It was Barcelona scouts who spotted him kicking a ball around the streets of Rosario as a youngster. Already in 2000, he joined the youth teams of the “Pride of Catalonia”, and his career gained momentum. At just 18, he transferred to the ‘Blaugrana’ first team, where he played alongside stars such as Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o.
Messi very quickly started winning in the eyes of the coach and after two seasons jumped into the starting XI. The Argentine developed at a dizzying pace and already in 2009 he won his first Ballon d’Or. He was only 22 at the time, making him one of the youngest winners of this award in history.
Until 2015, the Argentine won the Champions League three times and won the Ballon d’Or four times. Even then, you could say he was the best footballer in history, but his main competitor, Cristiano Ronaldo, was constantly on his heels.
Messi, unlike Ronaldo, was able to maintain excellent form for longer which resulted in further individual awards. The Argentine has won as many as seven Ballons d’Or so far, which is an all-time high, and it looks like he will be the main contender for the next award.
Leo Messi and the Golden Ball. π
2006 – 20.
2007 – π₯
2008 – π₯
2009 – π₯
2010 – π₯
2011 – π₯
2012 – π₯
2013 – π₯
2014 β π₯
2015 – π₯
2016 β π₯
2017 β π₯
2018 – 5.
2019 – π₯
2020 – canceled
2021 – π₯
2022 – out of thirty nominees β pic.twitter.com/zwlXKXh9NQβ Tricolor ball (@Tricolor_) August 12, 2022
Leo the professional
Leo Messi is the greatest footballer in the history of football. All the stats and awards that confirm the Argentine is number one speak for him. Many people will still argue and some will still prefer Maradona or Ronaldo, but the facts clearly speak in Messi’s favour.
This longtime FC Barcelona player has seven Ballon d’Ors to his name and should add an eighth to his list. Moreover, he triumphed in all the competitions in which he played. He won the Champions League four times, became Spanish champion ten times and above all became world champion with the national team. It also added a bunch of other rewards, but we won’t mention them because we could write about them for hours.
Congratulations Leo Messiπ
π 10x League
π 7x King’s Cup
π 4x Champions League
π 7x Spanish Super Cup
π 3x UEFA Super Cups
π 3x Club World Cup
π League 1
π America’s Cup 2021
π 7x Golden Ball
π World Cup 2022#Fifa World Cup #Messi pic.twitter.com/o0thAsi63hβ REST π | rfz_vn π₯ (@Trang2673) December 18, 2022
In general, it must be said that Messi is a footballer who has revolutionized football. Thanks to him, millions of fans around the world fell in love with football, and the Argentinian himself is a living legend and an icon of this sport. He has proven that he is the only one who can live a long time and has been regularly delighting us with his game for almost 15 years. In the long-term rivalry between Messi and Ronaldo, it was the Argentine who laid down the winning cards. He has seven Ballons d’Or to his name and has also become a world champion. He has achieved something that Cristiano Ronaldo can only dream of.