Arguably the best footballer in the world, perhaps ever, celebrates his birthday today. No not Kevin Nolan – though he is 30 today – but Leo Messi. And he is only 26.
It seems like aside from international honours, there is little left for the pint-sized striker to achieve in the game. A quick gaze on his Wikipedia shows a quite staggering array of personal honours and we know that Barcelona have been pretty handy since he first came on the scene in 2004.
There are just so many goals to choose from – 313 and counting – and memorable moments, it is difficult to cover them all here. From famously leaping over Rio Ferdinand to score a sensational header in the Champions League Final to that incredible solo run against Getafe, to waltzing through seemingly every defence that has been in front of him, it’s fair to say he has ticked quite an amount of boxes in his career thus far.
Here are some of our favourite Messi moments, and yes, we know many brilliant moments aren’t included, but sit back and enjoy the finest footballer of our generation with some his best finishes, brilliant commentary and his questionable knowledge on Danish soccer.
Some of his finest work
Ray Hudson is a big fan of Leo, a really big fan…
We don’t speak Spanish, but we don’t need to…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IivUVo4V1Wo
Booked for his style of penalty, the re-take was inevitable
He doesn’t know too much about the Danish national team then
And finally, a few more goals thrown in for good measure
And the sad thing is, we will probably never find out if indeed he could hack it on a cold Tuesday in Stoke.
