Love and passion

– Dad, are you going to score again? – Thiago asked with the innocence of 3 years old in 2015.

– Yes, son. Another goal – Lionel Messi replied, as if scoring was just a formality. Behind it is a story of love and passion for football.

Messi’s Moment

Forever is Messi, a player of thousands of people. It’s a natural and unavoidable thing. There has been talk in recent weeks about when the new milestone will appear, as his scoring quota at PSG increases after the 2022 World Cup.

He finally did, at El Monumental in front of 83,214 spectators, who saw Argentina play at home for the first time since the glory of Qatar 2022: Lionel Messi scored his 800th career goal.

El Monumental Stadium exploded in emotion with the aftershock spreading to Belgrano, the most tree-lined area of ​​Buenos Aires. Everything stood out when he scored from a free kick.

Everything was like a dream, so majestic. It’s a symbolic number. Messi reached this feat in a season where he accumulated more than 30 goals between PSG (18) and Argentina (13), along with 21 assists (17 with club, four with national team).

The season is still two months away, and Messi’s numbers are truly impressive for strikers at the peak of their careers let alone a 35-year-old player.

Messi lovers and FC Barcelona will never forget his first goal. That day, May 1, 2005, Leo scored after the legendary Ronaldinho’s pass against Albacete.

Rafael Marquez, the Mexican star, held his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing from the bench. Coach Frank Rijkaard smiled when he learned that Messi went down in history as the youngest player of all time to score for Barca.

Carles Puyol, Ronaldinho and Giovanni van Bronckhorst surrounded the boy who had just scored his first professional goal and jumped for joy.

The Albacete players did not fully believe what was happening, especially goalkeeper Raul Valbuena, the first of many victims. He was hit over the head by Leo twice, the first time the referee disallowed the goal for offside.

Before painfully leaving Catalunya in 2021, Messi scored 672 goals in the Blaugrana shirt, becoming the player with the most goals in the history of the Camp Nou team.

In the most recent cycle at club level, “La Pulga” added 29 goals for PSG in less than two seasons.

At the same time, in the Argentina team, he scored more goals than anyone else. Leo has 99 times to conquer the opponent’s net, just one step away from the number of 100 goals.

Messi is likely to reach the 100th goal for Argentina at the Unico Madre de Ciudades home ground in Santiago del Estero, on March 28 when he plays a friendly against Curacao.

Constantly evolving

The speed that he set up is really impressive. In the early years of his career, Messi, then young, did not stand out in terms of goalscoring stats and this only changed when Pep Guardiola appeared.

The 100th goal of the player born in Rosario was made 4 years after the first goal, in the match against Dynamo Kiev in the prestigious Champions League playground.

Just two years later, the number 200 was conquered by Messi in the match “El Clasico”, against one of his biggest victims, Real Madrid. Leo scored the last minute to help Barca win the Spanish Super Cup in 2011.

More surprising was when the 300th table appeared: a year and two months later, met Rayo Vallecano.

Since then, beautiful milestones have followed each other consistently for two years, with the exception of the most recent conquest. It took him 3 years to go from the 700th table to the 800th record.

Another very remarkable aspect of Messi’s goalscoring record is that he has remained consistent for more than 15 years, despite a number of changes as the Argentina captain’s role on the pitch.

The change in gameplay always aims to adapt to bring a better version of themselves, as well as for the team.

In the first years, under the leadership of Rijkaard, Messi played as a right winger. He is left-footed and his moves into the middle become a dangerous weapon.

Guardiola arrived and decided to move Leo into the center, between the opposition defense and midfield. This new role shows the most dangerous version of Messi, paired with Xavi and Iniesta in the midfield, alongside Pedro and Dani Alves on the flanks.

In the 2011-12 season he reached a whopping number: 73 goals. At the same time, in the 2012 calendar year, Messi had 91 goals. Both are world football records to date.

When Barca added Neymar and Luis Suarez, respectively, “La Pulga” returned to the right wing. He continued to explode when he played more assists, breaking the 30, 40 or even 50 goal barrier.

In the last few years, as he ages, Messi remains motivated and passionate about football. In his final season with Barca, at PSG and Argentina, he dropped lower to make the ball.

The first season he lived in Paris, the first time after 15 consecutive seasons Messi’s achievements in the league did not reach double digits. He has only 6 goals in Ligue 1 (11 goals in all competitions).

When he adapts to the environment, Messi returns to being himself. Leo burst onto the scene in Qatar and achieved the achievement he’s been looking for all his life: helping Argentina win the world championship.

In total, Messi’s 800 goals include 151 doubles, 49 hat-tricks, 24 poker shots and two “small hands” (5 goals) – against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League and Estonia in a friendly match in June. 2022.

6,535 days have passed from the first goal to the 800 moment, Messi still does not stop trying. “I don’t think about records. I just go to the ballpark,” love and passion make Leo a world football icon.

Ngoc Huy | 14:40 March 24, 2023