How long has messi played soccer

It was chiefly through his form that the Catalan club reached the Champions League semifinals after a domestic title challenge had long since fizzled out. Then came Pep Guardiola. Messi took his game to the next level. He raised the bar. In both the occasions—Messi Scored. Messi is a Spanish citizen but chose to represent Argentina. He overcame injury to feature in the World Cup and helped his team reach the Copa America final last year.

Messi is said to be dating an Argentinian teenager called Maracena Lemos, an aspiring model whom he met during a period of recuperation from injury. The Argentine superstar is leaving FC Barcelona as the player with the most goals, the most appearances, the most titles and a host of other incredible records too. Leo Messi not staying at FC Barcelona.

Despite club and player reaching an agreement and their clear intention to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles. The Copa America over, the Argentinian can now relax and reflect on yet another record-breaking season.

Mission: Copa America. All that could change on Sunday The Argentinian needs to score just once more to equal the highest number of goals for a Conmebol country.

La Liga 26 Titles. Copa Del Rey 31 Trophies. Main Partners. Follow FC Barcelona on social media. History The best years in our history The era of the Dream Team The Kubala era Close article. Share Video Share this moment Share Video. Running time Autoplay. Messi had agreed and was set to sign as soon as he returned from his summer vacation.

But, no matter how cleverly the deal was structured, or how much of the pay was to be deferred, Barcelona was unable to meet a strict salary cap imposed by La Liga. COVID played a part in this chaos, to be sure—in January, the club reported that it had lost a hundred and seventeen million dollars in —but an empty Camp Nou can hardly explain how the situation became so desperate. This past spring, Barcelona was part of an attempt to create a closed European Super League , a grotesque money grab and public-relations fiasco that collapsed under the pressure of widespread fan revolt; and, even though most of the other clubs have withdrawn, the Catalans have not.

Perhaps Barcelona thought that the league would bend its rules, as it has often done for the giant clubs. This time, however, it did not. Messi himself spoke to the press on Sunday morning from the Camp Nou, with his family and a handful of teammates in the audience.

Lionel Messi is unique, and this is why something as banal as a player changing clubs after running out his contract was deemed worthy of a push alert from major news outlets. What he has accomplished in a Barcelona jersey is astonishing, of course: the guile and the brilliance of his playing, the vision and the touch, all the intangible ways in which he affects games and makes the players around him better.

At the age of 8, he was recruited to join the youth system of Newell's Old Boys, a Rosario-based club. Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth.

Messi's parents, Jorge and Ceclia, decided on a regimen of nightly growth-hormone injections for their son, though it soon proved impossible to pay several hundred dollars per month for the medication. So, at the age of 13, when Messi was offered the chance to train at soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona's youth academy, La Masia , and have his medical bills covered by the team, Messi's family picked up and moved across the Atlantic to make a new home in Spain.

Although he was often homesick in his new country, Messi moved quickly through the junior system ranks. Ultimately, Messi's short stature 5 feet, 7 inches , combined with his speed and relentless attacking style, has drawn comparisons to another famous Argentinian footballer, Diego Maradona. Lionel Messi at a Barcelona soccer match, April Messi has only played for FC Barcelona, where he first signed at age He also plays for the Argentina national team.

By the age of 16, Messi made his first appearance for the FC Barcelona, putting himself in the record books on May 1, , as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise.

That same year, he led Argentina to the title in the under World Cup, scoring on a pair of penalty kicks to propel the team over Nigeria. Messi steered Barcelona to a wealth of success, most notably in , when the left-footer's team captured the Champions League, La Liga, and Spanish Super Cup titles. Even the great Maradona gushed about his fellow countryman. He has something different than any other player in the world.