Lionel Messi, also known as the god of soccer, is now trying to reach "the most goal scored in a year" record of Gerd Muller. Muller's record is 85 and Messi's record is 84. He has three games remaining. He was injured in the last Champions League game aginst Benfica, but it was a slight injury.
His strength is his short height. Because his center of weight is low, the defenders are hard to catch him when he is dribbling. When he is dribbling, casters say that "the ball is stuck to his shoes." He is left-footed. He is at the top in the passing game of FC Barcelona. The greatest passers, Xavi and Iniesta, is supporting him so that Messi can score easily. He was not good at his national team, but nowadays he is ace in the Argentina national football team.
He is the owner of marvelous records. He was called genius since in the youth squad and broke almost every records of the youth team. He recieved the FIFA Ballond'or, which is a prize for the best player in the world, three consecutive times. This is also a record. He scored 68 goals in 57 games in the 11-12 season. The previous record was 67 of Muller in 72-73 season.
Senior team records
Season | Club | Division | League | Cup | Champions League | Supercup | UEFA Super Cup | Club World Cup | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
2004–05 | Barcelona | La Liga | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 9 | 1 | |||
2005–06 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 25 | 8 | |||||
2006–07 | 26 | 14 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 36 | 17 | |||
2007–08 | 28 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 6 | — | — | — | 40 | 16 | |||||
2008–09 | 31 | 23 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 9 | — | — | — | 51 | 38 | |||||
2009–10 | 35 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 53 | 47 | ||
2010–11 | 33 | 31 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 3 | — | — | 55 | 53 | ||||
2011–12 | 37 | 50 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 60 | 73 | ||
2012–13 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | — | — | 22 | 28 | ||||
Total | 228 | 190 | 33 | 20 | 74 | 56 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 351 | 281 |
Honours
Barcelona
- La Liga: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11; Runner-up 2006–07, 2007–08, 2011–12
- Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12; Runner-up 2010–11
- Supercopa de España: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011; Runner-up 2012
- UEFA Champions League: 2005–06, 2008–09, 2010–11
- UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011; Runner-up 2006
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011
Argentina
- Olympic Gold Medal: 2008
- FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2005
Runner Up:
- Copa America: 2007
Third Place:
- U20 South American Youth Championship: 2005
Individual
|
Records
World
- Most goals scored in a season (club and national team): 82 goals
- Most goals scored in a season (only club): 73 goals
- Most goals scored in a calendar year (only club): 72 goals (shared with Gerd Müller)
- Most goals scored in FIFA Club World Cup: 4 goals (held jointly with Denilson)
Europe
- Most goals scored in a European Cup season: 14 goals (held jointly with José Altafini)
- Most European Cup top scorer awards: 4 awards (shared with Gerd Müller)
- Highest scorer in a European Cup game: 5 goals (held jointly with ten other players)
Argentina
- Most goals scored in a year in the national team: 12 goals (shared with Batistuta)
Spain
- Most goals scored in La Liga in a season: 50 goals
- Most La Liga hat-tricks in a season: 8 hat-tricks
- Most goals scored in the Supercopa de España: 10 goals
- Most consecutive La Liga matches scored in: 10 matches (shared with Ronaldo and Mariano Martín)
Barcelona
- Top goalscorer in official competitions: 281 goals
- Record Goalscorer in UEFA Champions League: 56 goals
- Record Goalscorer in European Competitions: 57 goals
- Record Goalscorer in international Competitions: 61 goals
- Most La Liga hat-tricks overall: 15
- Most all competitions hat-tricks overall: 21
(Source: Wikipedia)
Personally, I like his rival Cristiano Ronaldo more than him, but as statistics show, Messi is becoming one of the greatest. The world soccer is divided to two great players, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, or two great teams, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. But the current tendency shows that Messi is little bit above Ronaldo. They are both world class players who can score in any game at any position. Their ability is not able to compare. Messi can break great records because there is a rival like Ronaldo who gives Messi motivation for competition. The existence of rival can lead to a better result as Messi shows his great performances.
It is certain that Messi became one of the greatest players. Maybe my son will ask who is better, Ronaldo or Messi, just like my friends discuss who is better, Maradona or Pele. Can Messi break Muller's record and really be the best player in the history?