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Messi made his debut (in a friendly match) for FC Barcelona in November 2003. This image is from a match against Panathinaikos during the Champions League, on November 2, 2005. See in this gallery some of the best images of his career at Barcelona.
(Credit: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images) →
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Messi takes the ball from Osasuna's Clavero during a Spanish League match in October 2005 (Credit: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi during training at the Camp Nou on September 26, 2005 (Credit: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Barcelona players celebrate a goal by Leo Messi during a match against Albacete on May 1, 2005 (Credit: Luis Bagu/Getty Images)
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Messi poses with his 'Golden Boy 2005' trophy, awarded by the Italian magazine 'Tuttosport', for being the best player under the age of 21, in December 2005 (Credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi, diving and with a Christmas hat, for the celebration of the 10 years of the Barcelona aquarium, in December 2005 (Credit: CESAR RANGEL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Ronaldinho (left) and Samuel Eto'o (right) with their FIFA World Player of the Year trophies.
In the middle, Leo Messi with his golden ball trophy, in December 2005 (Credit: CESAR RANGEL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi overtakes RCD Espanyol players in a La Liga match in January 2006. (Credit: Luis Bagu/Getty Images).
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Lionel Messi is tackled by Real Zaragoza's Delio Toledo during a Primera Liga match in February 2006 (Credit: Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
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Messi, Ronaldinho and Marquez celebrate the triumph of FC Barcelona in the Spanish League, in May 2006 (Credit: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi celebrates a goal against Celta Vigo during a Spanish League match in August 2006. (Credit: MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi dedicates a goal to his uncle against Real Madrid in a Spanish League match in March 2007. (Credit: CESAR RANGEL / AFP via Getty Images)
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Ronaldinho lifts Messi to celebrate his fifth goal during a match against Atlético de Madrid in May 2007 (Credit: BRU GARCIA / AFP via Getty Images)
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A Barcelona fan walks onto the pitch to give Messi a cap during a match against Bayern Munich in August 2007 (Credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty Images)
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Lionel Messi celebrates with Thierry Henry after the Stuttgart vs. Barcelona match in the Champions League in October 2007 (Credit: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi takes a penalty against Lyon during a Champions League match in November 2007 (Credit: FRED DUFOUR/AFP via Getty Images)
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Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi pose with their awards during the 2007 FIFA World Player of The Year Gala at the Zurich Opera House (Credit: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
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Messi with the finalists of the Aspire Africa Football Dreams in Doha, in January 2008 (Credit: KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi, unstoppable during a match against Lyon in the Champions League in March 2009. (Credit: PHILIPPE DESMAZES/AFP via Getty Images)
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Not even the rain can stop him: Lionel Messi during a match against Getafe in April 2009 (Credit: Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
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Messi and Henry with the Champions League trophy in 2009. (Credit: MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP via Getty Images)
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UEFA President Michel Platini greets Messi after awarding him the Best player of the season trophy in August 2007 (Credit: STEPHANE DANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi poses with a child during a dedication session in October 2007. (Credit: MEHDI FEDOUACH/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi and his "Ballon d'Or" (golden ball), in December 2009. (Credit: JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi and Dani Alves next to the FIFA Club World Cup trophy in 2009 (Credit: ARWAN NAAMANI/AFP via Getty Images)
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Iniesta, Messi, and Puyol in front of the six trophies of the 2009 season. (Credit: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi is appointed UNICEF ambassador in 2010 (Credit: JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi, with his FIFA Ballon d'Or, next to the Brazilian Marta, also winner of the trophy, in January 2011 (Credit: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi with the Ballon d'Or at the Camp Nou in January 2012 (Credit: JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Once again, Messi receives the Ballon d'Or. Photo from January 2013 (Credit: OLIVIER MORIN/AFP via Getty Images)
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Real Sociedad's Markel Bergara fights for the ball against Messi during a Spanish League match in January 2013 (Credit: RAFA RIVAS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Messi listens to his coach, Gerardo 'Tata' Martino during a Copa del Rey match in January 2014 (Credit: David Ramos / Getty Images)
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Messi and Antonela during the Ballon d'Or Gala in January 2014 (Credit: Martin Rose/Bongarts/Getty Images)
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On March 14, 2014, Messi reached 370 goals for Barcelona (Credit: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
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On November 22, 2014, Messi achieves the record of 251 goals in the Spanish League (Credit: LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)
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Another Ballon d'Or for Messi, in January 2016 (Credit: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
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April 23, 2017: an iconic celebration of Messi, in a classic against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Barça won 3-2 with a goal in the last minute.
The annotation, of course, was by Lionel Messi.
(Credit: OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)
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All against Messi.
Real Sociedad players try to stop Messi during a La Liga match in January 2018 (Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)
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This is what a Messi goal against GRAnada CF looks like at the Camp Nou, in January 2019 (Credit: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
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Lionel Messi supporters gather in front of the Camp Nou following the news of his retirement from Barcelona, on August 5, 2021 (Credit: PAU BARRENA / AFP via Getty Images)
(CNN) --
This is a look at the life of Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi.
General data of Lionel Messi
Date of birth: June 24, 1987
Place of birth: Rosario, Argentina
Full name: Lionel Andres Messi
Father: Jorge Messi, factory worker
Mother: Celia Cuccittini de Messi
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Marriage: with Antonella Roccuzzo (from June 30, 2017 to date)
Children: Ciro, Mateo and Thiago.
Other data
As a child, Messi was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency.
At the age of 13, he signed for Futbol Club Barcelona and moved to Spain.
As part of the contract, FC Barcelona agreed to pay for Messi's hormone treatments.
Messi is the greatest scorer of all time for FC Barcelona and the Spanish La Liga.
Winner of the Ballon d'Or, or footballer of the year, a record six times: he first set a record four years in a row (2009-2012), and then won it again in 2015 and 2019.
He won the European Golden Boot six times: 2009-10, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Chronology
1995-2000 - Plays for the local soccer club, Newell's Old Boys, in Rosario, Argentina.
2000-2003 - Signs with FC Barcelona and works his way to the top through the Barça youth team.
November 16, 2003 - Makes his debut with the team, as a replacement in a friendly match against FC Porto.
October 16, 2004 - Officially debuts with FC Barcelona against Espanyol.
Barca win 1-0.
2007 - Establishes the Leo Messi Foundation, which works to improve access to education and health care for children.
August 2008 - Guides the Argentine soccer team to the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
March 11, 2010 - Messi is appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
2011-2012 season - Sets the all-time record for goals scored in a single season for a major European soccer league, with 73 goals.
June 2013 - Prosecutors in Barcelona file charges of tax fraud against Messi and his father for the period between 2007 and 2009. The complaint states that Messi and his father, in an attempt to reduce the total taxes they had to pay in Spain , sought to manage the player's lucrative income from image rights through shell companies abroad.
Messi denies all accusations of having committed any foul.
June 25, 2013 - Prosecutors in Barcelona, Spain, tell CNN that Lionel Messi paid €10 million in taxes ($13 million) to cover the 2010-2011 tax period, but efforts to prosecute him for alleged tax fraud from 2007 to 2009 are still ongoing.
August 14, 2013 - Messi and his father, Jorge Messi, make a "reparatory" payment of 5 million euros ($6.6 million) to Spanish authorities for allegedly committing tax fraud between 2007 and 2009.
September 27, 2013 - Messi and his father testify at a preliminary hearing in a Barcelona court over allegations that they defrauded Spanish tax authorities of more than $5 million.
March 16, 2014 - Scores a hat-trick to become Barcelona's top scorer with 371 goals;
thus, he surpasses the record established by Paulino Alcantara, who scored 369 goals.
May 2014 - Signs a new contract with FC Barcelona for an alleged annual sum of 20 million euros ($27 million).
June 2014 - A Spanish state prosecutor asks a judge to dismiss tax fraud charges against Lionel Messi, but not against his father.
July 13, 2014 - Messi wins the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the World Cup tournament.
July 28, 2014 - A judge rules that the tax fraud case against Messi and his father will proceed, despite a request made by the Spanish state prosecutor in June that the charges against Messi be dismissed.
November 22, 2014 - Messi scores a hat-trick to become the top scorer in the Spanish league with 253 goals, surpassing Telmo Zarra's previous record of 251 goals.
Messi ends the season with 286 goals in 315 games.
October 8, 2015 - A Spanish court rules that Messi and his father will stand trial on charges of tax fraud.
May 31, 2016 - The tax fraud trial against Messi and his father begins.
June 27, 2016 - Messi says he will probably retire from international football after Argentina lost the Copa América final to Chile on penalties.
July 6, 2016 - A Barcelona court fines Messi 2 million euros ($2.3 million) and sentences him to 21 months in prison for tax fraud.
The Spanish justice changed Messi's prison sentence for an additional fine of 252,000 euros ($287,000) in July 2017.
August 12, 2016 - Messi announces that he will play again for Argentina, after having declared in June that he would retire from football at national team level.
July 5, 2017 - Barcelona and Messi announce a contract extension that will keep the Argentine at Barça until June 30, 2021 and is reportedly worth 565,000 euros ($645,000) a week.
13 January 2019 - Scores his 400th goal in the Spanish league in his 435th match, extending his record as the all-time top scorer in La Liga.
Messi is the first player to score 400 times in any of the "big five" European leagues.
August 2, 2019 - Messi is banned from all competition for three months and fined $50,000 by the CONMEBOL Disciplinary Court.
The punishment comes after Messi accused South American soccer's governing body of corruption, suggesting the 2019 Copa America was rigged in favor of host Brazil.
May 2020 - Ranked third on Forbes' annual list of the world's highest-paid athletes, with estimated earnings of $104 million.
July 2021 - Messi leads Argentina in the 2021 Copa América and wins the trophy after defeating Brazil in the final.
The blue and white team managed to win the championship after a drought of 28 years and Messi finally achieved a great international title with his country.
Throughout the tournament, the striker scored 4 goals and distributed 5 assists, taking the award for best player in the competition.
August 5, 2021 - Barcelona reports that Messi will no longer be linked to the club.
"Despite having reached an agreement between FC Barcelona and Leo Messi and with the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, it cannot be formalized due to economic and structural obstacles (Spanish LaLiga regulations )," says the club's statement.
August 8, 2021 - Messi says goodbye to Barcelona and his fans at a press conference in which, crying, he assured that he did "everything possible", he even lowered his record by 50%, to stay at the club, but that the team "didn't want to take on more debt."
He left darts for the club's board, assuring that "there are many things that are said that are not true."
August 10, 2021 - Paris Saint-Germain makes the announcement of the signing of Messi official.
He would wear number 30 in his new club.
September 28, 2021 - The Argentine scores his first official goal for Paris Saint-Germain against Manchester City in a Champions League group stage match.
May 2022 - Messi's first season at Paris Saint-Germain ends.
In his first year in France, the Argentine managed to score 11 goals and dish out 15 assists to help his team win Ligue 1 2022.
June 5, 2022- Messi scores five goals for the first time playing with the Argentina National Team in an international friendly against Estonia.
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