My favourite football player is Lionel Messi. He was born in 1984 in Argentina. Messi played his first football game when he was 17 and became the youngest player for Barcelona.
He scored his first professional goal on May 1, 2005. His playing style and skills are comparable to that of the famous player from Argentina, Diego Maradona. There is much competition between him and the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi was included in the World Player of the Decade 2005.
His first breakthrough season was the 2006-07 season. He became the first-team regular by scoring the first hat trick of his career in El Classico and his first Ballon d’Or trophy in 2008.
He left Barcelona football club on June 16, 2015 and joined the Inter Miami football club. He won the 2021 Copa America and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
He has 8 Ballon d’Or, 6 European Golden shoes, and was named the World’s Best Footballer for a record eight times by FIFA in 2021; he spent his entire professional career with Barcelona, where he won a club record 34 trophies, including 10 La Liga titles, seven Copa del ray titles and the UEFA champions league four times Messi holds the record for most goals [474], and hat-tricks.
He is my favourite sportsman, not because of his victories, but because he never gave up.
Sanuja Bandara Thilakarathna
Grade 9-F
Sri Chandananda Buddhist College
Kandy
