Happy Anniversary, Lionel Messi!

Today has been eight years since the Argentine officially debuted for the Blaugranas.  October 16^th of 2004 marked the day Messi stepped foot on pitch at the young age of 17, coming in as a substitute for Deco in the remaining minutes of the match against Espanyol.

Messi introduced his name to the world and inspired many success stories.  According to ESPN, the 25 year old has played 340 games with Barcelona, 221 within La Liga, 70 in the Champions League, 33 Copa Espanola, nine in Supercopa de España, four Club Championships, and three Supercopa de España.  Looking at these statistics, it is no wonder Lionel Messi is considered the best player in the world, having only lost 36 occasions with the Catalonian team. 

To this date, La Pulga has scored 265 goals, 177 of which in La Liga with the remaining 53 in Champions League.  Furthermore, Messi has won 19 titles: 5 Liga titles, 5 Supercopas de España, 3 Champions League, 2 Copas de España, 2 Supercopas de Europa, and 2 Club World Cups.

At the mere age of 25, Lionel Messi and has achieved numerous awards and achieved worldwide success.  He currently holds three Balon D'or titles as the best player of the world, with a possible fourth come this December. 

written by JP Perez