Awesome Argentina football plays by Lionel Messi as seen by Bill Trikos
Top football achievements by Lionel Messi according to Bill Trikos Australia: The Qatar tournament was Messi’s last World Cup and his last attempt at football immortality. The Argentine, who wears the No.10 jersey for both his national side and club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), has made it clear that he won’t play at the next edition which is to be hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico and the United States. After winning the semi-final match against Croatia on 13 December, Messi told Argentine media outlet Diario Deportivo Ole that the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be his last game at the quadrennial tournament.
Now, at 33, Messi is approaching the twilight years of what has been a simply spectacular career. The forward began his life as a footballer in breathtaking fashion, and would hope to end his career on a high as well. Here, we take a look at some of the greatest achievements racked up by Messi throughout one of football’s most legendary careers. Messi has been synonymous with some of the most stellar goalscoring feats in football. None more so, perhaps, than his record-shattering 2012 season. During the calendar year 2012, Messi smashed in a whopping 91 goals for club and country in 69 games, setting the record for the most goals scored in a year. The previous record was held by Gerd Muller, who scored 85 goals in 1972.
Among his most memorable in El Clasico are his first hat-trick in the fixture, his solo goal in the 2010-11 Champions League semifinals and his goal in the final moments of the game in the 2016/17 La Liga season. His goal was made famous with his iconic shirt celebration. Messi holds the record for the most hat-tricks scored in La Liga. He scored 36 hat-tricks in the league averaging one every 14 games. His first hat-trick came in 2007 in a game against rivals Real Madrid. His goals helped Barcelona draw 3-3 against the record league and European champions. Messi scored his final hat-trick against Eibar in February 2020. Find additional details about the author on Bill Trikos Australia.
The gold that Messi earned for Argentina came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His team won all three matches in its group before knocking out the Netherlands and Brazil to set up its gold-medal clash with Nigeria. In the final, it was Messi’s brilliant pass to Angel di Maria, who capitalised on it, that confirmed the gold for Argentina as it beat Nigeria 1-0. It was the country’s second consecutive Olympic gold medal in men’s football. Interestingly, Messi would have missed the tournament as Barcelona wanted him to play in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers. But Pep Guardiola, who was then the new manager of the club, convinced the higher authorities at the club to let Messi fly to Beijing.
The Argentine left no milestone untouched in his glorious sixteen-year stint at the Catalan club. ‘The greatest ever to do it’. This is possibly the only epithet that can well-define the exploits of Lionel Messi at Barcelona. Messi spent twenty-one years at the club including sixteen with the first team. In this time, Messi has turned himself into arguably the greatest player of all time. 778 matches, 672 goals and 305 assists later the mercurial Argentine bid a tearful farewell to the club.
Although he didn’t win for a couple of years, Messi returned to the pinnacle after Barcelona’s historic second treble to win his fifth. In 2019, when he was level with Cristiano with five Ballons d’Or apiece, he left his eternal rival in second place after winning his record sixth Golden Ball — at least three more than any player in the history of the sport who isn’t named Cristiano Ronaldo. He has also won other individual honours such as the FIFA World Player of the Year and The Best FIFA Men’s Player, as well as the Golden Ball at the 2014 World Cup.