#1 Lionel Messi
Country: Argentina
Current Club: Barcelona
Position: Second Striker/RW/Centre-Forward
Strengths: Vision, creativity, dribbling, finishing, free-kicks, ball control,...
UEFA Best Player in Europe: 2
European Golden Shoe: 5
Copa America Golden Ball: 2015
Ballon d'Or: Five times(2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 & 2015)
FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2014 World Cup
Lionel Messi: Born to play football creates magic with his feet, there is nobody who has produced the kind of magic on the pitch that the diminutive Argentine has at least in his era. We are privileged to witness the footballing genius whose play on the pitch seems like he's not human.
"Although he may not be human, it’s good that Messi still thinks he is." - Javier Mascherano
Ever since his first senior appearance at the club level for Barcelona, he was delivering for his club at the highest level consistently, this guy seemed a sensation from day one. He scored an incredible 621 senior level goals for his club and country.
He has a record for being the all-time top scorer in a calendar year (2012) scoring 91 goals averaging 1.32 goals per game, which is unbelievable. He is La Liga's top goalscorer with 387 goals, and nobody has won four Ballon d'Or's in a row, which says how dominant he was during those years. He was born to create records that were unbreakable.
Barcelona would not have achieved the level of success they had now without Messi, but he is one of the reasons why the club is regarded as a superpower in football, that aura was created by the little magician and the base of it probably took place when he tormented one of Europe's superpowers Manchester United to deny the English champions twice the European glory with some amazing displays at an elite level, those two Champions League performances were two of the best in his career.
This is when the world believed an heir to Maradona was born.
Messi's plethora of success is one that stands tall above the rest, but apart from his awards and success, his skill on the field is stellar. This guy can do anything on a football pitch, his ball carrying ability is the best in the current generation, it seems the ball is glued to his feet when he is dribbling, he is an amazing passer and creator, he can even pass a ball through the eye of a needle.
He has a wonderful left foot with which he can score any type of goal in a football textbook, his freekicks are lethal and if his team is in trouble just giving the ball to him, he will score or create for his teammates in any situation of the game. Nobody understands the game better than him, he is just phenomenal and words are not enough to describe this genius player. He is a legend from another world.
'Magical Messi, he is something else!'