Players History

LIONEL MESSI

Sport News Flash 2013 , Lionel Messi History  - Leo Messi, with Four Ballon d'Or awards to his name (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) can be officially considered the best player in the world. But despite so many individual virtues, he is also a remarkable team player.
This Argentinian striker's footballing career started in 1995 at Newell's Old Boys, where he played until the year 2000. At the age of 13, Lionel Messi crossed the Atlantic to try his luck in Barcelona, and joined the Under 14s.Messi made spectacular progress at each of the different age levels, climbing through the ranks to Barça C, followed by Barça B and the first team in record time.

In the 2003-2004 season, when he was still only 16, Messi made his first team debut in a friendly with Porto that marked the opening of the new Dragao stadium.
The following championship-winning season, Messi made his first appearance in an official match on October 16, 2004, in Barcelona's derby win against Espanyol at the Olympic Stadium (0-1). With several first team players seriously injured, the services of several reserve team players were called upon, and Messi became a regular feature of Barça squads.
On May 1, 2005, he became the youngest player ever to score a league goal for FC Barcelona - against Albacete when Messi was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old. That record would eventually be beaten by Bojan.
At the Under 20 World Cup in Holland, Messi not only won the title with Argentina, but was also the leading goalscorer and was voted best player in the tournament. Aged 18 years, he had become one of the hottest properties in the world game. Shortly after, he made his first full international appearance in a friendly against Hungary.
His breakthrough came in the 2005-06 season, starting with an amazing performance in the Joan Gamper Trophy match against Juventus. He was also outstanding at the Santiago Bernabéu, in Barcelona's unforgettable 3-0 win, and also at Stamford Bridge, in the Champions League match against Chelsea. Injury kept him sidelined for much of the latter stage of the season, but Messi still played a total of 17 league games, 6 in the Champions League and 2 in the Copa del Rey, and scored eight goals. The following season Messi moved up a gear and astounded the world with goals such as the one he scored against Getafe in the Copa del Rey. In the 2006/07 season, and even though the team didn't win any titles, the Argentine was second in the FIFA World Player awards and third in the Ballon d’Or. He continued to develop in the 2007/08 campaign, when he scored 16 goals and gave 10 assists in the 40 games he played in. In 2008, Leo Messi was runner up in the FIFA World Player awards for the second season in a row.
In the 2008/09 season, and now without Ronaldinho alongside him, Messi became the main star of the Barça show. He managed to stay injury free all season, and played 51 games, scoring 38 goals. The Argentinian was also fundamental in the Copa del Rey and Champions League finals, scoring Barça's second goals in both. In 2009, he finally won both the FIFA World Player and Ballon d’Or. How far can Leo Messi go? He was the league's top scorer in the 2009-10 season and equalled Ronaldo's historic total of 34 goals (96-97). He scored the goal against Estudiantes that won Barça the Club's first World Club Cup.

But without settling for that, the Argentinian went even further in the 2010/11 season, scoring no fewer than 53 official goals, a Spanish record only matched by Cristiano Ronaldo (that very same season). Messi, like in Rome, played a vital role in the Champions League final at Wembley were scored a scorcher from outside the area to put his team ahead. In 2011, he also won the Ballon d’Or for the third time, a feat only previously achieved by Cruyff, Platini and Van Basten.
The season 2011/12 is when Messi moves past César Rodríguez's record of 232 goals to become the Club's all time top goalscorer. He achieves this on the 20th of March 2012 in a 5-3 victory over Granada in which he scores a brilliant hat-trick.
Two days earlier, on March 7, 2012, the football world watched in awe as he scored five goals in a single game against Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
On May 5, 2012, the Leo Messi legend was extended in the derby against Espanyol, when he made it to an unprecedented 50 goals in a league season, having scored four goals in three different matches. A remarkable season ended with one of the finest goals of his career in the Copa del Rey final against Bilbao. In the 2011/12 season he has scored in every competition he played in, totally an astonishing 73 as Barça conquered the Spanish Supercup, European Supercup, Clubs World Cup and the Copa del Rey. He ended 2012 with the record number of goals in a calendar year (91), thus beating the historic tally established by Gerd Müller (85 for Bayern Munich and Germany in 1972).

Messi is also captain of the Argentina national and has played in two World Cups (2006 and 2010) and two Copa Americas (2007 and 2011). In the summer of 2008 he also played at the Beijing Olympics, and came home with a gold medal.

CRISTIANO RONALDO

Sport News Flash 2013 , Cristiano Ronaldo History - Cristiano Ronaldo has rapidly made the transition from an exciting young footballing talent into a global superstar to become one of the most renowned and coveted players in the world game.

Having grown up on the island of Madeira, Ronaldo joined Sporting’s academy as a 12-year-old. Following on from the likes of Luis Figo and Simao Sabrosa before him, Ronaldo made his debut for Sporting against Moreirense in October 2002, at the age of 17, and he announced himself with two goals in a 3-0 victory. 

He continued to showcase his talent in Sporting’s run to the league championship, but it would prove to be his first and last season in Portugal as many of Europe’s biggest club had already been following the youngster’s progress.

Everything changed for the 18-year-old after he produced a scintillating performance as Sporting defeated Manchester United in a pre-season friendly in the summer of 2003. The United players frantically encouraged manager Alex Ferguson to bring Ronaldo to Manchester, which he duly did in an 18m Euro deal just days later. 

Inheriting the famous no. 7 shirt worn by George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and David Beckham, Ronaldo was heralded as the latest United superstar, and his sensational second-half cameo during the opening day win over Bolton Wanderers led Ferguson to claim that the Old Trafford fans had “found a new hero”.  Ronaldo wowed observers in his first season in the Premiership with his speed, trickery and enthusiasm for the game. The campaign ended with a Man of the Match performance in United’s 3-0 FA Cup final win over Millwall, and Ronaldo was voted the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Season by the club’s fans

Having scored six goals in his debut season, Ronaldo then hit nine in his follow up campaign, including a crucial double at Highbury during United’s famous 4-2 victory over Arsenal, and his third year saw him break into double-figures after notching twelve in 2005/06.  Aside from more goals, Ronaldo became an expert at playing on either flank, exploiting his ability to use both feet and becoming one of the Premiership’s most feared players. An increasingly strong physique was also combined with a good aerial threat and deadly-long range shooting.

Things turned somewhat sour briefly during the summer of 2006 when Ronaldo was strongly criticised by the English press, who accused him of conspiring to get Wayne Rooney sent off during Portugal’s last-16 World Cup match with England, in which Ronaldo scored the winning penalty of the shootout following a goalless draw.

Any thoughts that he would be hounded out of the Premiership were quickly dispelled as the following season saw his game step up yet another level, with Ronaldo combining with Rooney to help fire United to the Premiership title, earning him both the PFA Young Player of the Year award and the Players' Player of the Year award for 2007.

In the 2007/08 campaign, Ronaldo enjoyed his best season in a United shirt, scoring 42 goals and helping Alex Ferguson's side to a Premiership and Champions League double, with Ronaldo scoring in the European Cup final as his side beat Chelsea on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Moscow. A host of personal accolades followed, including the prestigious Ballon d'Or and Fifa World Player of the Year awards for 2008.

Throughout his time in England, which amassed a total of six years, Ronaldo regularly admitted an ambition to one day play in Spain's La Liga, specifically for Real Madrid. His superb working relationship with manager Ferguson had seen Ronaldo regularly convinced to delay his dream move, but faced once again with the player's insistence on leaving, Ferguson finally granted Ronaldo his wish and sanctioned a world-record 94m-euro transfer to the Bernabeu in 2009. 

Ronaldo was presented in front of close to 80,000 supporters in the Spanish capital, as he prepared to embark on the latest chapter of a truly remarkable story.

Though many openly pronounced that he would never again play to the level that he had done at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo never once looked likely to fail at Madrid. In spite of injuries, Ronaldo would score a goal per game on average in his first season, which unfortunately ended without Real Madrid adding to their glorious trophy cabinet.  

2010/11 proved to be yet another season in which Ronaldo would silence his doubters and break records, both individually and in La Liga. Ronaldo scored 40 league goals, breaking the record for goals scored in a La Liga season, and once again showed that he is capable of scoring in big games by sealing the Copa del Rey title for Real Madrid with a thunderous header in extra time.

But Ronaldo didn't stop there. In 2011/12, Ronaldo produced his best season ever statistically, with 60 goals in all competitions and winning the La Liga title for the first time with Madrid. Ronaldo broke his own record for goals scored in a La Liga season with 46, but was surpassed by Lionel Messi, who scored 50 goals in La Liga.  

The brilliant career of Cristiano Ronaldo seems to know no bounds, and with José Mourinho at the helm, Real Madrid will surely put winning the Champions League at the top of their list of priorities for next season.