Throughout the history of soccer there has been many great players: Ronaldo, Maradona, Zidane, Figo, Beckham, Pele and many more. However, during the past decade the world of soccer has been dominated by two players: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Them two have won every club tittle possible as well as every individual award possible. The Ballon D'or, which recognizes the best soccer player of the year, has been property of this two men for the past decade. Them two have won 5 Ballon D'or respectively; moreover, Messi has been the only player in history to win 4 Ballon D'or consecutively, 2009, 2010, 2011,and 2012.

It all began in Rosario, Argentina. Messi was 7 years old when he joined Newell’s Old Boys. Newell’s old Boys, was Messi’s hometown club; however, the team wasn’t that great. However, since the arrival of a young Messi things started to change for the team. The team's performance changed drastically, they went from been one of the worst teams in town to become known all over South America. Newell's went on to winning every tournament that they played in. Do to their amazing performance, the supporters gave the team a special name, La Maquina del ‘87 (The Machine of ‘87) this was do to the fact that all the players were born in 1987.

However, not everything was a paradise for Messi. At age 11 he was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency. However, do to the family’s economic status, they weren’t able to afford the treatment. Newell's agreed to help by paying half of the treatment cost; however, as timed passed Newell's back up from the agreement and Messi was not able to keep going with his treatment.

In Barcelona they had already heard of young Messi and the great talent that he possessed; however, they weren't too convinced with him. Messi and his dad traveled to Spain to see if he could have a trial with FC Barcelona. The negotiations took a while, but they were able to come to an agreement. The club would host a trail for Messi; moreover, if Messi ended up playing for the academy, they would pay for Messi's treatment.

Messi made his first appearance in 2004 with FC Barcelona’s first team. Since then, everything that he has done is history. At the age of 19, during the 2007/08 season, Messi  scored his first hat trick, 3 goals in a single match, what makes this accomplishment more special is that he did it against Barcelona's all time rival, Real Madrid. The game between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid is best know as the “clasico”, both teams respectively are one of the best teams in the world, if not the best two teams.

Throughout the years, FC Barcelona has had many great players: Ronaldo, Cruyff, Neymar, Iniesta, Rivaldo and many more; however, Messi is the greatest player that the club has ever had. Messi is a product of La Masia (Barcelona academy) this makes him even more special as he grew up defending the Barça colors, and the fans feel identify with him.

Since his debut in 2004, Messi has broken many records throughout his career. Just to name a few: all time top scorer with FC Barcelona and Argentina, all time clasico top scorer, all time La Liga top scorer, youngest player to win 5 Ballon D’or awards, and player that has won the most European golden shoe award.

In 2009, Messi won his first Ballon D'or, consequence of the excellent season that he had in 2008/2009. That season FC Barcelona won the treble. During this season, Messi showed what he was capable of, he scored 38 goals in all competitions; however, in 2012 Messi scored an incredible amount of 91 goals. Those 91 goals helped him establish the record of most goals in a calendar year, this record was previously hold by Gerd Müller. Müller was delighted by Messi's accomplishment, “My record stood for 40 years and now the best player in the world has broken it” (Gerd Müller). In 2012, Messi won his fourth Ballon D'or, a well deserved recognition.

Although Messi has gotten older he’s still in great shape; however, consequence of his age, his game style has changed. When he was younger Messi would be a player that would like to dribble a lot, he would be the man that would finish the plays; however, now with 31 years Messi is more of a creative player. His role has slowly change, but his natural instincts are still there. He still continues to score game after game and is a fundamental player of the team.