Messi: The must-read biography of the World Cup champion, now fully updated (Guillem Balague's Books)

Product Information

Messi, Mejor Delantero y Mejor Jugador"[Messi, Best Forward and Best Player] (in Spanish). Liga de Fútbol Profesional. 2 December 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 . Retrieved 13 September 2015. Though Messi was part of the Barcelona roster that won the double in the 2005-06 season and established himself as starter in the next two years, his breakout season came in the 2008-09 campaign. With Ronaldinho gone, Messi emerged as the new superstar of Barcelona. On top of that, he also broke Gerd Muller’s 39-year record of 85 goals in a calendar year (1972), recording 91 goals in 2012. Far from being jealous, Muller said: "My record stood for 40 years—85 goals in 60 games—and now the best player in the world has broken it, and I'm delighted for him. He is an incredible player, gigantic." In his five trips to the football World Cups, Messi has led Argentina to at least the quarter-finals on four occasions. He also came close to winning the FIFA World Cup in 2014 but Argentina fell to Germany 1-0 in the final.

Messi, Neuer Heralded as Brazil 2014's Best". FIFA. 13 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018 . Retrieved 27 August 2015. La selección catalana pierde ante Argentina (0–1) en un partido marcado por la política". El Mundo (in Spanish). 24 May 2008. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008.Lionel Messi added to his already impressive list of soccer accomplishments on October 30, winning the Ballon d’Or as the world’s top male player for a record eighth time. The Argentinian beat out Manchester city striker Erling Haaland for the award.

At the end of 2012, Messi turned down a very lucrative offer to play for an unnamed Russian side. It would have given Messi a salary of €20 million a year and made Messi the most expensive player in the world (Barcelona would have been paid €250 million). He turned down the offer because he was unsure if he would be playing in major European championships and the difficulties in moving to Russia. Instead, he signed a contract with Barcelona until the end of 2018. When asked about moving to the English Premier League, Messi revealed his sense of commitment to Barcelona. In the mid-year of 2022, Messi and the Argentina team along with Lionel Scaloni beat Italy 3-0 and won the Finalissma trophy. In 2021, Messi won the Ballon d'Or trophy for the most outstanding player for a record seventh time. The French football magazine "Ballon d'Or" has granted this award to the finest footballer every year since 1956, even though covid-19 made it impossible to conduct the ceremony the previous year. Net Worth On top of that, the club started to experience financial problems with Josep Maria Bartomeu’s board. All those woes combined almost drove Messi away from Barcelona. The Argentine footballer looked ready to leave in 2020 as a free agent, but it turned out that his contract didn’t allow it. He began playing from an early age, and his talent was soon apparent. However, at the age of 11, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD). This was a condition that stunted growth and required expensive medical treatment, including the use of the drug Human growth hormone.I’ve never stopped being Argentine, and I’ve never wanted to. I feel very proud of being Argentine, even though I left there. I’ve been clear about this since I was very young, and I never wanted to change. Messi embarked on an all-out assault on the record books in 2012. He became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League match in early March, and a few weeks later he surpassed Cesar Rodriguez's club-record 232 goals to become Barcelona's all-time leading scorer. By the end of 2012, Messi had accumulated an astounding 91 goals in club and international play, eclipsing the 85 netted in a single calendar year by Gerd Muller in 1972. Fittingly, he broke one more record when he was named the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner for the fourth time in January 2013.Messi led team Argentina to the finals of the 2014 World Cup. Although his team lost to Germany, he was named best player of the tournament. Activism and Fatherhood

In the 2015–2016 season, Messi became the youngest person to make 100 appearances in the champions league. Messi also helped Barcelona claim the 2015 Club World Cup Final, where he was awarded the tournament’s Silver Ball. Messi emerged a runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2016 Ballon d’Or award as well as the 2016 Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, he also claimed the Pichichi and European Golden Boot. Messi is widely regarded as one of the most exciting players of the modern age – in fact, any age. He has a peerless ability to dribble and take on opponents. Maradona has described his ball control as supremely good. “ The ball stays glued to his foot; I’ve seen great players in my career, but I’ve never seen anyone with Messi’s ball control.” Messi has said he wishes to retain the joy of how a child plays football Fortunately, Messi changed his mind a few months later. That doesn’t mean that things became easier, though. Soccer was part of Lionel Messi’s life since he was a kid. He started playing the sport with his older brother and their friends in his native Rosario. Despite being smaller and younger than the rest, he was good enough to play with bigger boys. In 2006, he participated in the World Cup, becoming Argentina’s youngest player to play in the world cup. Argentina were eliminated in the quarter-finals. In 2008, he won an Olympic gold medal for Argentina in football at the Beijing Olympics. Initially, Barcelona had not allowed him permission to play, but new coach Pep Guardiola allowed him time off.Every time I start a year, I start with the objective of trying to achieve everything, without comparing it to how I’ve done in other seasons. IFFHS (International Federation of Football for History & Statistics". www.iffhs.de. Archived from the original on 2021-02-07 . Retrieved 2021-01-31. Top-scorer (2008/09, 2010/11 & 2013/14 Copa del Rey, 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14 & 2014/15 UEFA Champions League, 2009/10, 2010/11 & 2011/12 Supercopa, 2009/10, 2011/12, 2012/13 & 2016/17 La Liga, 2011 FIFA Club World Cup) The other player that Messi is, of course, constantly compared with is Cristiano Ronaldo. Between them, they've shared most of football's big honours for more than a decade. In the winter of 2022, Messi won the World Cup after scoring 7 goals and providing 3 assists as well as winning the player of the tournament.