Introduction
During its history, football had given a lot of great players in different eras. The best world football player today is Lionel Messi. He plays as a striker for FC Barcelona. The numbers showed in the last 3 years are just incredible, another reason for FIFA to consider him the best player in the world in every of the last 3 seasons. The road to become the world football best player was long and not without obstacles. He was born in Rosario, Argentina and was discovered at a very young age by a Barcelona scout. Soon after, he was called in Spain for a trial. Although he did very well in the trials, Barcelona was not too eager to keep him because his size was considered to be a big problem. He was just too short and too thin. Charly Rexach, a former player and manager, who was head of the scouting department at the time, insisted to keep him and pay for the medical treatment for his growth hormone deficiency.
History
The decision turned out to be highly rewarding. Messi made his official debut in 2004 in a game against Espanyol and immediately emerged himself as a future star player. His combinations with Brazilian colleague and future world football best player of the year Ronaldinho ignited the crowd to give him a standing ovation upon substitution. In May 2005 Messi became the youngest player to score in the Spanish Primera. During the first 3 years he suffered 4 injuries of the same type, the first one making him miss the Champions League final in 2005, the last one sidelining him for 3 months. After that moment, he started to take better care of his body and the results were incredible.
Features
Messi exploded in the 2008-2009 season, since former star player Josep Guardiola took over the coaching duties. He made big changes within the squad, replacing the clubs marquee players in the last years, that lost their motivation, with young players brought from the clubs youth academy. These changes made players like Ronaldinho and Deco leave the club to be replaced by players like Sergio Busquets or Pedro Rodriguez. Guardiola also changed his position, from right winger to central striker. Messi had a great season, scoring 38 goals in 51 matches and leading his club to win the treble, Spanish Primera, Spanish Cup and Champions League. It was also the first season Messi became the world football best player, being awarded the Golden Ball.
Tips and comments
The next season, Messi led Barcelona to win the European Super Cup, the Intercontinental Cup and again the Spanish Primera, but Barcelona failed to win the Champions League, being defeated in the semi finals by Inter Milano. He scored 47 goals in 53 matches. In the following season, Messi became the world football best player for the third time in a row. He led the club to win every competition except the Spanish Cup. He finished a marvelous season with 53 goals and 24 assists in 55 matches.
