Messi

..Lionel Andrés Messi (born 24 June 1987 in Rosario) is an Argentine international football player who currently plays for FC Barcelona in the Primera División, and appears on Argentina's national team. Often touted in the media as New Maradona, Messi has been publicly named as his "successor" by Diego Maradona himself.
Career
Beginnings
Lionel Messi was born in Santa Fe Province on 25 June 1987. At the age of five, he started playing football for Grandoli, a club coached by his father. In 1995, Messi switched to Newell's Old Boys. At the age of 11, he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. River Plate showed interest in Messi's progress, but did not have enough money to pay for the treatment of the illness that cost over £500 a month, as Argentina's economy was collapsing. Carles Rexach, then sporting director of FC Barcelona, was made aware of Messi's talent, and Barcelona signed him after watching him play offering to pay for the medical bills if he was willing to move to start a new life in Spain. His family moved with the young player to Europe and he starred in the club’s youth teams.
He soon found himself starting for the Barcelona B team, averaging more than a goal per game, by scoring 37 goals in 30 matches.
Barcelona début On December 16, 2003, Messi made his début for the first team against FC Porto then, a year later on October 16 came his official début against RCD Espanyol, becoming the third-youngest player ever to play for FC Barcelona. When he scored his first senior goal for the club against Albacete Balompié on May 1, 2005, Messi was 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old, becoming the youngest to ever score in a La Liga game for FC Barcelona.
Current 2007-08 season Messi scored 5 goals in a week leading Barcelona to the top four in La Liga. He dedicated the two goals he scored against FC Sevilla on September 22 to Ronaldinho, who was injured and under fire from media outlets at the time. A few days earlier he had scored as Barcelona defeated Lyon 3-0 at home in a Champions League match and then on September 26, Messi scored another goal in a 4-1 victory over Real Zaragoza. His goals against Levante and Atlético de Madrid have made him top scorer in La Liga to date.
Leo has been nominated for a FIFPro World XI Player Award under the category of Forward. A recent poll conducted in the online edition of the Spanish newspaper Marca has him as the current best player of the world with 77% of the votes. Also, other columnists from Barcelona-based newspapers El Mundo Deportivo and Sport began asking for the Ballon d'Or to be given to Leo Messi this year. Some Spanish sport journalists have started to point out that if Messi keeps playing at this level, he could become one of the greatest of all time like Maradona or Pele. This observation was also made by world soccer legends Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Cruyff. Various soccer personalities such as Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o, Frank Rijkaard, Víctor Fernández, and even Diego Maradona himself have all, at one time or another, declared that they consider Messi to be the current best soccer player of the world.