Jun 24, 2023
Argentina striker Lionel Messi, arguably one of the greatest ever to play the beautiful game, turned 36 on Saturday.
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Messi made his presence felt early by his mazy dribbling skills and precocious talent during his time with his boyhood Argentinian club, Newell's OldBoys.
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Messi went on to attain legendary stature while playing for Barcelona, the club with which he won 10 Spanish La Liga and 4 Champions League titles.
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However, the crowning moment of his illustrious footballing career came last year when he led Argentina to its third FIFA World Cup title in Qatar.
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Ever since he broke into the national team, he took very little time in rising to the status of a talismanic striker.
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He went on to play for the Catalan giants for close to two decades, till 2021, making 520 appearances and scoring 474 goals for them.
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With Barcelona, he won the La Liga, the top domestic football competition in Spain, in 2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
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He won four UEFA Champions League titles with Barcelona in 2005-06, 2008-09, 2010-11, and 2014-15 seasons.
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'La Pulga' also lifted 7 Copa Del Rey trophies with Barcelona in 2008-09, 2011-12, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons.
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Among other honours he won with Barcelona are, three FIFA Club World Cups (2009, 2011 and 2015), three UEFA Super Cup titles (2009, 2011 and 2015) and seven Spanish Super Cup titles (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018).
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After a glorious career with Barcelona, he joined Paris Saint-Germain, a French football giant, in 2021. For PSG, Messi made 58 appearances scoring a total of 22 goals.
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Also, with the Parisian footballing giants, Messi won two Ligue 1 titles in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. He also won a Trophee des Champions title with the club in 2022.
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With Argentina, he also won the Copa America title in 2021 and CONMEBOL-UEFA Cup of Champions in 2022.
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Also, significantly, Messi has won a total of seven Ballon d'Or titles in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2021.
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