Lionel Messi

Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Spanish La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. He has drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona; Maradona himself declared Messi his "successor".
Messi made his unofficial debut for the first team against Porto on 16 November 2003 (at 16 years and 145 days). Less than a year later he made his official debut against Espanyol on 16 October 2004 (at 17 years and 114 days), becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona and youngest club player who played in La Liga (a record broken by team mate Bojan Krkić in September 2007). When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on 1 May 2005, Messi was 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for Barcelona until 2007 when Bojan Krkić, again, broke this record, scoring off a Messi assist.

2005–06 season

Messi in a match against Rangers on 11/07.
On 16 September, for the second time in three months, FC Barcelona announced an update to Messi's contract - this time improved to pay him as a first team member and extended till June 2014. Messi obtained Spanish citizenship on 25 September and was finally able to make his début in the season's Spanish First Division. He had previously been unable to play because Barcelona had filled their quota of non-EU players. Messi's first home outing in the UEFA Champions League came on 27 September against Italian club Udinese. He impressed with some great passing and a seemingly telepathic relationship with Ronaldinho that earned him a standing ovation from the 70,000-odd Camp Nou faithful.
Messi netted six goals in seventeen league appearances, and scored one Champions League goal in six. However, his season ended prematurely on 7 March 2006 when he suffered a muscle tear in his right thigh during the second leg of the second round Champions League tie against Chelsea. Barcelona ended the season as champions of Spain and Europe.