One of the top ten players to watch at World Cup that kicks off on June 14 in Russia is Lionel Messi, Argentina. The Argentina football genius of course does not require a World Cup Trophy to rank his expertise in the game. His football career spans over 13 years.

Maybe this World Cup will be his final one as he is turning 31.

He started his football career in the 1995 at Nowell’s Old Boys and he played there till the year 2000. When he was 13 years old he came to Barcelona and joined the under 14s.

In 2005, Messi became the youngest player to score a league goal for FC Barcelona against Albacete. At that time he was only 17 years, 10 months and 7 days old.

During the under 20 World Cup in Holland, he won the title with Argentina and was also the leading goal scorer and was voted as the best player in the tournament.

At the age of 18, he was one of the most sought after player in the world game. Immediately after this, he made his international appearance in a friendly match against Hungary.

He sparkled the most in his brilliant career during the 2014/2015 season. He was one of the greatest architects  of the second Trebler in club history. In a game against Sevilla at Camp Nou,

Messi broke Telma Zarra’s 251 career goals to become all time leading scorer in League history. With a hat-trick at APOEL Nicosia, Messi defeated Raul’s 71 career goals to become the top-scorer in Champions League history. The season ended with his 77 goals in 99 career Champions League game.

The renowned player is also the captain of the Argentina National side and has already played three World Cups (2006, 2010 and 2014). He also played three Cop Americas (2007, 2011 and 2015).  Messi  played for his country in 2008 at Beijing Olympics and returned home with a gold medal.

In the ground he is a national left footer and is versatile with the ball.  He can play either in the middle or on whichever the wings required. It is observed that it out on the right that he feels more comfortable.

As a specialist, he is able to deal with all dead ball situations, especially from kicks and penalties. He has a strong physique and is able to stick on to the ball in style, dodging it and taking it forward when attacking it by the toughest defenders. This makes him simply the best footballer in the planet.

All eyes are on Lionel Messi to watch his camaraderie with football in the 2018 World Cup at Russia.       Bonnie Basil