All you need to know about the Argentine wizard, who will showcase his craft for the first time in India in a friendly against Venezuela in Kolkata on September 2
All you need to know about the Argentine wizard, who will showcase his craft for the first time in India in a friendly against Venezuela in Kolkata on September 21987: June 24 -- Lionel Andres Messi is born in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina.
1995: Joins Rosario based club Newell's Old Boys.
1998: Eleven-year-old Messi is diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency.
2000: Joins Barcelona at the age of 13.
2003: November 16 -- Messi, aged 16, debuts for Barcelona in a friendly against Jose Mourinho's FC Porto.
2004: October 16 -- Plays his first official match for Barcelona in a 1-0 derby win at Espanyol.
2005: May 1 -- Scores his first goal against Albacete becoming Barcelona's youngest scorer.
June -- Guides Argentina to World Youth Championship title in Holland. Wins Golden Ball and Golden Shoe.
August 17 -- Makes his debut for the Argentina senior side coming on as a substitute in the second-half but is shown a red card within just two minutes of his entry.
2006: May -- Helps Barcelona retain Spanish League (La Liga) title and win the Champions League. However, he had to miss the final win over Arsenal in Paris due to thigh injury.
June 16 -- Becomes youngest player to represent Argentina at a World Cup with a substitute appearance against Serbia & Montenegro.
2007: July -- Named Young Player of the Tournament after helping Argentina reach the Copa America final, where they lost to Brazil.
December 2 -- Finishes third behind Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or voting.
December 13 -- Finishes second behind Kaka, this time in FIFA World Player of the Year poll.
2008: August 23 -- Helps Argentina to back-to-back Olympic gold medals, in Beijing.
December 2 -- Finishes second behind Ronaldo in Ballon d'Or voting.
2009: May 27 -- Scores second goal as Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 to win Champions League final in Rome. Also helps Barca win the La Liga and Copa del Rey titles in an unprecedented treble.
September 18 -- Signs a new contract with Barcelona, running until 2016 with a buy-out clause of 250 million Euros, making him, along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the highest paid players in La Liga, with annual earnings of around 9.5 million euros.
December 1 -- Wins the prestigious Ballon d'Or.
2010: May -- Equals Ronaldo's club record of 34 goals in a league season as Barca win the La Liga title again.
June -- Helps Argentina reach quarter-finals of FIFA World Cup in South Africa, where they lost to Germany.
November 20 --Scores his second hat-trick of the season in Barca's 8-0 thrashing against Almeria taking his goal tally to 100 in La Liga.
2011: January 10 -- Wins his second Ballon d'Or after being a fourth consecutive nomination for it.
This year he has already bagged two trophies -- the Spanish Supercup and UEFA Super Cup.
He's scored three goals and made two assists in Barcaelona's 5-4 aggregate win over Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercup.
He stole the show in the UEFA Super Cup too, with a goal and an assist for Cesc Fabregas in the 2-0 victory over FC Porto. This was the only official competition he had not scored in before.
