Pre5 Group:Hong Nam, Cm Mn, Quc Cng, Thin n.

LIONEL MESSI
Lionel Andrs "Leo" Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario, Argentina) is an Argentine footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team, mainly as a striker. He has two older brothers named Rodrigo and [21] Matas as well as a sister named Mara Sol. At the age of five, Messi started playing football for Grandoli, a local club coached by his father [22] Jorge. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old [22] Boys who were based in his home city Rosario. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth [23] hormone deficiency. The traditional River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for treatment for his [18] condition which cost $900 a month. Carles Rexach, the sporting director of FC Barcelona, had been made aware of his talent as Messi had relatives in Lleida, Catalonia, and Messi and his father were [18] able to arrange a trial. Rexach, with no other paper at hand, offered Messi a contract written on a [24][25] paper napkin. Barcelona offered to pay for Messi's medical bills if he was willing to move to Spain. Messi and his father moved to Barcelona where Messi enrolled in theclub's youth [22][25] academy. Messi began playing football at a young age and his skill and potential was soon realized by Barcelona. He left Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys's youth team in 2000 and moved with his family to Europe, as Barcelona offered treatment for his growth hormone deficiency. Making his debut in the 200405 season, he broke his team record for the youngest footballer to score a league goal. Major honours soon followed as Barcelona won La Liga in Messi's debut season, and won a double of the league and Champions League in 2006. His breakthrough season was in the 200607 season; he became a first team regular, scoring a hat-trick in El Clsico and finishing with 14 goals in 26 league games. Messi then had the most successful season of his playing career, the 200809 season, in which he scored 38 goals to play an integral part in a treble-winning campaign. This record-breaking season was then eclipsed in the following 200910 campaign, where Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions, equalling Ronaldo's record total for Barcelona. He surpassed this record again in the 201011 season with 53 goals in all competitions. Messi has won five La Liga titles, three Champions League titles, scoring in two of those finals, against Manchester United in both 2009 and 2011. He was not on the pitch as Barcelona defeated Arsenal in 2006, but received a winners' medal from the tournament. After scoring 12 goals in the 201011 Champions League, Messi became only the third player (after Gerd Mller and Jean-Pierre Papin) to top-score in three successive European Champion Clubs' Cup campaigns. However, Messi is
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the first one to win the Champions League top scorer titles for three consecutive years after Champions [14] League changed its format in 1992. Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Shortly thereafter, he became an established member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runnersup medal at theCopa Amrica tournament the following year. In 2008, in Beijing, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team. At international level Messi has scored 18 goals in 64 games.