Argentina: 5 figures that show that Lionel Messi, the opponent of the French team, is different
“Lionel, esta copa te la merece” (Lionel, this Cup, you deserve it)! Argentinian fans get it, if there’s one person who can motivate their team, it’s Lionel Messi. with l’Albiceleste (nickname of the Argentina team), the undeniable star of the round ball will try to beat France this Sunday in the final and win the third World Cup for his country, winners in 1978 and 1986.
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At the age of 35, for him (very) likely during the last World Cup, the Flea (the chip in Spanish) is keen to get one of the last trophies missing from his list of achievements. It is also the chance to mark a little more the history of football which, as the following five numbers prove, has already been marked by his talent.
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This is the height, in centimeters, of Lionel Messi. A detail? Not really when you know the story of the native of Rosario. Suffering from a growth deficiency, as a child, he had to undergo hormone treatment to hope to exceed 150 centimeters. Seen by FC Barcelona, young Leo finally joined the training center of the Catalan club at the age of 13, which will oversee the medical protocol. A great story that heralded a great career.
This is the number of goals scored to date by Lionel Messi in eighteen years of career, including 96 goals in the Argentina A team. The Argentinian prodigy also distributed 429 assists to his partners in the national team and in the club (at FC Barcelona, and then at Paris-Saint-Germain).
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By scoring against Croatia in the semi-finals, he became Argentina’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup. He is also the co-top scorer in the current competition, tied with… Kylian Mbappé (5 goals each).
This is the number of matches in which Lionel Messi participated in his career. Specifically, there were 778 appearances in the Barça jersey and 53 with PSG. Without counting his matches with the youth teams (Barça B and Argentina U20), Messi played in the thousandth meeting of his professional career against Australia, in the round of 16 in Qatar.
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This is Lionel Messi’s fifth World Cup and the second time he is in the final. In Brazil, in 2014, his country lost to Germany (1-0) in extra time. In Russia, in 2018, Argentina was defeated by France in the round of 16 (4-2). No doubt he wanted revenge.
This is the number of titles won by Flea in his national and club career. At FC Barcelona, he filled his showcase with ten Spanish championships, seven King’s Cups, eight Spanish Super Cups, four Champions Leagues, three UEFA Super Cups and three Club World Cups. And his first season at PSG, in 2021-2022, allowed him to win the Ligue 1 championship and the Champions Trophy.
With Argentina, he notably won the Copa America in 2021 and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics.
Among individual distinctions, Leo Messi won his seventh Ballon d’Or in 2021, which rewards the best soccer player in the world every year. He won the first in 2009 and is the player who has received this trophy the most times.
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This is, in euros, the annual salary that Lionel Messi receives at Paris-Saint-Germain. This is equivalent to 114,000 euros per day, or 4,750 euros per hour. According to Foot Mercato, this insane salary is less than what he received during his last years at Barcelona (70.8 million euros per year).
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In addition to his salary, we must add additional income such as sponsorship contracts or advertisements. According to the American magazine “Forbes”, Leo Messi is one of the athletes who have accumulated more than one billion dollars in income since 2020 in their career. An excess that did not prevent the player from being condemned in 2017 by the Spanish justice to pay a fine of 2.1 million euros for tax evasion.
Source: Transfermarkt.
