Lionel Messi turned 36 on Saturday and is aging like fine wine. Let's take a look at the top moments of his impressive career.
The Argentinian legend turned 36 on Saturday and has completed football recently. Messi has added the World Cup to his prestigious trophy collection which already includes the likes of UEFA Champions League, Copa America, La Liga, Ligue 1, etc. Messi recently led Argentina to its third World Cup title in 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final as his team beat France in a dramatic penalty shootout. He scored seven goals in seven games and became the first player to score in each round of the same World Cup since the round of 16 was introduced in 1986.
In 2012, Messi scored five goals for Barcelona against Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16 in UEFA Champions League. The Barca team had majorly dominated Leverkusen 7-1 at the Camp Nou courtesy of a Messi masterclass. Messi scored in the 25th, 43rd, 59th, 58th and 85th minute of the game. It was the first time a player had scored five goals in the UEFA Champions League game and Messi received a second 10/10 rating from L’Equipe, first one coming in the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United in 2011.
On April 23, 2017, Barcelona were drawing against Real Madrid in a must win league game. Barca desperately wanted a win to keep their title hopes alive and Lionel Messi scored a goal in the dying seconds of the match to secure a 3-2 victory for Barcelona against Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabeu. The goal was Messi’s 500th for Barca and he celebrated by taking off his jersey and holding the side showing his name and number up to the Madrid fans. Arguably one of the greatest celebration in the history of football.
In typical Leo fashion, he invited the pressure before whipping the ball away at the last second and skipping around the man, he then followed the skill up with a nutmeg. Still in his own half at this point, Messi then goes on a dazzling 30-yard run, before navigating his way past two more defenders, charging into the box and rounding the keeper to score. In scoring the goal, the little Argentine covered nearly 3/4 of the pitch without giving the ball away, Messi really was a god amongst men in those days.
Messi recently led Argentina to its third World Cup title in 2022 FIFA World Cup, scoring twice in the final as his team beat France in a dramatic penalty shootout. He scored seven goals in seven games and became the first player to score in each round of the same World Cup since the round of 16 was introduced in 1986 and was also the first player in the history to win two World Cup golden ball.
The 36-year-old can certainly come up clutch with hat trick as well, proved by the fact his first one came in the most pressured of situations, an El Clasico against Real Madrid. On March 10th 2007, aged just 19-years-old, the youngster was the star of the show as he became the youngest player in El Clasico history to score a hat trick, outshining the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho, to win a point for his team in a 3-3 draw.
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