He is probably the greatest football player in the world, He is the finest and most exciting football talent the world has ever witnessed, The World has seen great football players in the likes of Diego Maradona, Pele, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Junior, name them all, but none of them can come close to this legend who the world will forever be indebted to him for the genius works that he has been doing on our football pitches His name is Lionel Andres Messi. He is the ultimate football genius of our millennium and arguably second to none. But how did he attain this place at the top of the World? At cloud nine? As the legend Messi turns 35 today, we take a look at his exciting journey to the creme de la creme in the football world.

Messi is an attacking midfielder who is blessed with outstanding ball control and pace with insane dribbling abilities that have propelled him to become the most decorated player the game has ever seen. In his home country in Argentina, he carries the tag “the new Maradona” even though his countrymen and women very well know and understand that he is a much better version by far of legend Diego Maradona. Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Argentina and at an early age, he began showing a great aptitude for football. His father was his first coach at a club known as Grandoli just at the age of 5. He later moved to Newell’s Old Boys. By that time, he had not even attained 10 years but he was already showing all the signs of a promising football career ahead of him. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency that required expensive treatment. His parents could not afford his expensive medications and that is where Barcelona Football Club came in. The Catalan Giants had been very much impressed with the young Messi's talents that they agreed to pay for his medical treatment in Spain as they sharpened further his football skills. 

Barcelona surely reaped from its investment going by the accolades they have won during the reign of Messi at the club during the pinnacle days of his ever-exciting career. Messi was named in Barcelona's first team at the age of 17 while still a young teenager not to mention that he made his debut game for Argentina just at the age of 18. At that tender age, he played alongside the likes of Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o. At the age of 19, he became the youngest Barca player ever to score a hat trick against its fiercest rival Real Madrid in ‘El Clasisco’. What a feat he achieved! In 2014 he set the overall Barcelona goal record when he scored his 370th goal as a member of the team. Messi was very instrumental in making Argentina sweep the gold medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. During the 2014 Brazil FIFA World Cup, Lionel Messi almost single-handedly propelled Argentina to the finals where they lost 1-0 to Germany following an extra-time late goal from Mario Gotze but he was, nevertheless, given the Golden Ball Award as the best player of the tournament, something very typical of him. He last year led Argentina to a Copa America title after they edged out their fierce rivals, Brazil 1-0 in the final. Recently, Argentina hammered Euro 2020 champions, Italy 3-0 in the Finalissima match and he was instrumental in all the three goals as expected of him. 

Off the pitch, Messi is one of the biggest athletic stars in the world. In addition to earning a hefty salary to appreciate his talent and the profits he rakes in for his employers, he is an extremely successful product pitchman, notably for the sportswear company Adidas. On joining French capital giants, Paris Saint Germain from Barcelona, he shattered the record of player shirt sales, one that was previously held by his fierce nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi is a human being who one cannot be wrong to say that he is viewed as a ‘god’ by more than half of the human population and as we head to the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup slated to take place between November and December he carries the hopes of almost an entire universe on his shoulders as most football fanatics want and wish to see him lift the most coveted trophy in the football world at the global showpiece event. We are hopeful that he will lay his hands on the world cup trophy donning the Argentine shirt. Messi is a very humble individual who does not even believe that he is Messi (the best football player to have ever lived), crazy, right? But who is Lionel Messi? He is the greatest player to have ever played the beautiful game of football. Respect to Messi; the man and the legend!