Fourteen years ago today, a short, wiry child arrived in the Spanish city of Barcelona. His name: Lionel Andres Messi.
In the 14 years that followed, that youngster blossomed into the best player in the world, possibly of all time (so says teammate Xavi).
Messi’s club celebrated the anniversary by tweeting a passport photo of Messi from when he first arrived:
#OnThisDay Leo #Messi arrived at FC Barcelona 14 years ago. He was 13 years old http://t.co/mxjUXbtot3 pic.twitter.com/g7CGIqRCc4
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 17, 2014
And it is an anniversary that should be celebrated.
So far at Barcelona, Messi has won four Ballon D’or awards. Barcelona has also prospered, winning three Champions League titles, six La Liga titles, two Spanish Cup titles, two UEFA Super Cup titles, six Spanish Supercup titles and two FIFA Club World Cup titles.
Messi became Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer when he was 24 (he’s 27 now). Messi has scored more than 350 goals for Barcelona, with more to come.
In celebration of this anniversary, here is every goal scored by Messi between 2004-2014:
