Messi’s birthday: Will it be a dream come true this time?

KATHMANDU: JUNE 24 – Lionel Andres Messi, one of the greatest players in world football and captain of Argentina’s national football team, has turned 35 years old. Born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina, Messi has made great strides in professional football but has not been able to overcome the country’s title drought. And, this one step has become the first flaw for those who compare him to his critics or any other player.

Messi, who turned 35 on Thursday, made his debut for Spanish club Barcelona in 2004. Since then he has scored 474 goals in 520 games in the Spanish club football competition La Liga and 120 goals in 149 games in the Champions League.

Messi, who has scored 56 goals in 80 games in the Copa del Rey, has scored 22 goals in 29 games in other competitions. Overall, he has scored 672 goals in 778 games for the club. He has scored 73 goals in 147 games for the country.

Messi has lifted 35 trophies from Barcelona. Based on that performance, he has won the Ballon d’Or six times. He has also won the European ‘Golden Shoe Award’ six times. In 2012, Messi scored 91 goals for the club and the country in a single calendar. He scored 79 goals for Barcelona and 12 for Argentina that year. These goals were possible in 69 games.

In recent years, Argentina has struggled in the big competitions, but has been missing the title. Argentina have not won the Copa America since 1993. Argentina has not won the World Cup since 1986. Despite reaching the finals of the three competitions played under Messi’s captaincy, Argentina has been forced to settle for the runner-up spot.

Messi, who made his national team debut in 2005 against Hungary at the age of 18, announced his retirement from international game in 2016 after missing out on a major title. Messi made the unexpected decision to retire from international play after Argentina, who had reached the finals of three major tournaments in three years, lost all their titles. But he withdrew his decision after pressure from supporters and Argentine sports officials. And then he was seen magically scoring goals on the field in Argentina’s jersey.

Messi led Argentina to the 2014 World Cup final, but was limited to runners-up after failing to beat Germany. Even though he returned without a title in the World Cup, he was in the mood to heal his wounds by winning the Copa America title.

Chile beat Messi’s team in a penalty shootout in the 2015 Copa America final. Argentina, who reached the Copa America final under Messi’s captaincy for the second time in a row, were unlucky again.

Argentina were the team to reach the final with a resounding victory in the group stage and the rest of the game, but Messi decided to leave the international game after losing to Chile again in the final. But his decision did not last long.

He made his national team debut in 2005 in Argentina’s jersey and won gold at the 2008 Olympics and the Under-20 World Cup.

Diego Maradona scored in the 1986 World Cup semi-final against England by hand to take Argentina to the final. He called that goal “Hand of God”. Argentina defeated Germany in the final to win the World Cup.

With Messi rising to the Argentine national team, Argentina reached the final five times with his significant contribution. However, Argentina was defeated four times. Despite allegations that Messi did not play for the country as he did at the club, the accusation was unfair to him as he repeatedly led the team to the final. Proponents of her case have been working to make the actual transcript of this statement available online.

Messi was the focus of all Argentine supporters when it came to a difficult World Cup qualifier in the 2018 World Cup. In the crucial match, Argentina defeated Ecuador 3-1. Messi scored a hat-trick to take Argentina back to the World Cup. But in the World Cup, Argentina lost to France and dropped out of the last 16.

Although Copa America 2019 was considered another opportunity, Argentina lost 2-0 to Brazil in the semi-final and was forced to return home from the semi-final. Messi saw the Copa America 2020 as an important competition. Because this time the competition was being organized by Argentina. But the competition, which was postponed for a year due to the Corona Virus, is now taking place in Brazil after Argentina failed to make it. Messi and Argentina will have a chance to win the title this time, but it will not be easy. Argentina has reached the knockout stage of the tournament, but analysts believe that Argentina will not be able to win the title easily as the group stage games are just fine. However, Messi’s supporters around the world are hoping that his birthday will end the crisis of international titles.

Some facts about Messi
Messi is one of the richest players in the world. His net worth is 126 million dollar a year. The Barcelona team director was so impressed with his playing skills that they wanted to sign him to the club immediately. But in the absence of a signature paper, the first agreement was made on tissue paper.

When he made his Barcelona debut in 2003, Messi became the 17th youngest player in the world and the third youngest in Barcelona. He became the youngest player to score a goal for the club.

Messi has two passports. He also has citizenship in Argentina and Spain. He became a Spanish citizen in 2005. Barcelona’s ‘Iconic Jersey No. 10 ‘Messi received from Ronaldinho in 2008.

He received his first FIFA Player of the Year award in 2009. He turned down an offer from the Spanish Football Association to play for the Spanish national team.

Messi has been spending billions every year on children’s health care and education through the Leo Messi Foundation. He is also the Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children’s Fund.