FC Barcelona may not have won La Liga this season, but they have reason to smile: their boy wonder, Lionel Messi, has scored his 68th goal of the season, surpassing German legend Gerd Müller’s European record.
Messi achieved the feat with a hat-trick against Málaga at the Camp Nou last night, helping his team to a 4-1 win. Müller, who played as a striker for Bayern Munich, scored 67 goals in the 1972-73 season, and that had stood as the record until last night.
Messi, undoubtedly one of the most accomplished footballers of the day, has nine hat-tricks to his name this season and 46 league goals, two more than his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo. His 14 Champions League goals, including five in one match against Bayer Leverkusen, are also a record in themselves.
At the young age of 24, he has accomplished almost everything a player could want. His only regret would be that, despite being one of the main reasons behind the best football club in the world, he has not been able to inspire his national team, Argentina, to a World Cup title. If he manages it in Brazil in 2014, he will surely become immortal in the history books of football.
Facts about Messi
Here are some facts that Indian Sports News has compiled to help his fans know Messi a little better:
- Lionel Messi has the distinction of scoring Barcelona’s 5,000th and 5,100th goals. The 5,000th came in the 2009 season at the Camp Nou against Racing Santander, while the 5,100th came at Almería in 2010.
- Messi is one of the shortest footballers of all time. At the age of 11 he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. The treatment was costly, and it was Barcelona who signed the prodigy for their youth academy and took care of his medical bills. The treatment he received in Spain helped him reach a normal height of 5 ft 7 in.
- Young as he is, he knows the art of giving back to society. He is a philanthropist and has a foundation called the Leo Messi Foundation. Taking cues from his own childhood, Messi set up the foundation so that underprivileged children can get proper medical care. He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
- Messi has won La Liga five times and has three Champions League titles to his name, among other honours. He has won the FIFA World Player of the Year once (2009), the World Soccer Player of the Year (2009, 2011), the Ballon d’Or once (2009) and the FIFA Ballon d’Or twice (2010, 2011). He is the first Argentine player to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award.
- Messi, who is in a constant race with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, has edged past him to become the highest-earning footballer at present. Ronaldo’s salary is higher, but Messi’s income from other activities makes him richer than the Portuguese forward. Messi also has the better record when it comes to awards and accolades. He pipped Ronaldo to the Ballon d’Or in 2009 and beat him again for the 2011 award.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News
