Leo Messi, the indescribable legend
Many consider him to be the greatest footballer ever to have graced the pitch. The whole world now knows that Leo Messi is above anything else, a Paris Saint-Germain player. A look into the indescribable Messi.
Where to start? How to describe him? Which part of his career to look back on? There is no exercise more difficult than describing a legend when that legend continues. When time has been put on pause for more than two decades, as he has constantly offered the planet a permanent spectacle throughout. Messi was born in Rosario in 1987 and got his first touch of the ball at 4 years old, before taking his first steps with local side Newell’s Old Boys at 8 years old. The history making was underway. His talent was so impressive that he drew plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic and at just 13 years old he moved to Spain, where FC Barcelona would see him blossom with eyes watching from every corner of the globe. The pages written during those 21 years that followed helped to create the best chapters in the history of football. A book in which Pelé, Maradona, Cruyff and Zidane each left their own mark.
In Catalonia, the man nicknamed 'La Pulga' by the press tamed every defence, finding the back of the net against 82 teams to be precise. Enough to make your head spin? Not really, when you consider all of the honours he took home one after the other with unequalled modesty. With Barcelona, Messi won no less than 35 trophies, including 4 Champions League, 10 La Liga titles, 7 Copa del Rey… And behind the titles, there is the left-foot of a man who has never stopped innovating with the ball at his feet, breaking the lines as he glides across the field. Because although the statistics can't deny his impact in history, it's the manner with which he has played his football that will see him remembered forever.
The all-time top scorer in all Spanish competitions and player with the most assists this century, Messi has never played for anything else but the desire to win. Driven by the challenge, a dribble and the impossible, defences the world-over have danced the tango with the man who has toppled world football.
Rare are the athletes who have been able to enter the pantheon of their discipline, particularly when it comes to football. And even more so when it requires you to do so every three days for more than a decade. But Messi is undoubtedly one of those. His long, shining and exemplary career is witness of that. Six European Golden Shoes and six Ballons d’Or don't even go as far as to express the depth of his talent. From the pace of his execution to the incredible precision, from his scientific vision of the game to his love of the impossible pass, Messi's game could never been summed up in a couple of lines. Messi is a piece of music that you know on the tips of your fingers but that you could never get bored of on the pitch.
The cherry on the cake after winning everything else, the all-time top scorer for the Argentina national side finally lifted the Copa America with the Albiceleste just before he moved to the French capital.
21 years after arriving on the continent, the most impactful left-footer on the planet has signed for Paris Saint-Germain, for the biggest challenge of his career. After turning football into an art form, Lionel will come to exhibit his artwork in the Rouge et Bleu Museum.