Clash of the Titans IV
by Lee Dos Santos
Title
Clash of the Titans IV
Artist
Lee Dos Santos
Medium
Photograph
Description
Lionel Andres Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays for La Liga club FC Barcelona and is the current captain of the Argentina national team, playing mainly as a forward. He is currently Barcelona's all-time top scorer in all official club competitions, excluding friendlies.[2]
By the age of 21, Messi had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year in 2009 he won both the Ballon d'Or[3] and FIFA World Player of the Year, and won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 and 2011.[4] He also won the 2010–11 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. Messi is the fourth football player to win three Ballons d'Or, after Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco van Basten and the second player to win three consecutive Ballons d'Or, after Michel Platini. His playing style and small stature have drawn comparisons to Diego Maradona, who himself declared Messi as his "successor".[5][6] He is consistently cited by football pundits, managers, fellow players and many football fans as the best contemporary player in the world.[7][8][9]
Messi has won five La Liga titles and three Champions League titles. In 2012, Messi made UEFA Champions League history by becoming the first player to score five goals in one match, in a 7–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen.[10] With two goals in the next round against Milan, he matched José Altafini's record of 14 goals in a single Champions League season.[11] He also became the first player to top-score in four successive Champions League campaigns.[12][13] He set the world record for most goals scored in a season during the 2011–12 season, with 73 goals.[14] In the same season, he set the current goalscoring record in a single La Liga Season, scoring 50 goals.[15]
Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship with six goals. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine to play in the FIFA World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa América tournament the following year, in which he was elected young player of the tournament.[16] In 2008, he won his first international honour, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentina Olympic football team. Sportspro has rated Lionel Messi as the 3rd most marketable athlete in the world.
The Argentina and Brazil football rivalry is a highly competitive sports rivalry that exists between the national football teams of the two countries, as well as their respective sets of fans. Games between the two teams, even those that are only friendly matches, are often marked by notable and sometimes controversial incidents. This rivalry is also called the "Battle of the South Americans."
Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (born 5 February 1992), commonly known simply as Neymar (Portuguese pronunciation: [nejˈmaʁ]) or Neymar Júnior, is a Brazilian footballer who plays in the Brasileirão Série A for Santos and the Brazilian national football team, mainly as a forward.
At the age of 19, Neymar won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award, by a record margin, after previous coming third in 2010.[2] Neymar received nominations for the FIFA Ballon d'Or and FIFA Puskás Award in 2011, where he came 10th for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or award and won the 2011 FIFA Puskás Award.[3] He is known for his acceleration, speed, dribbling, technical ability and finishing. His playing style has earned him critical acclaim, with fans, media and former player's drawing comparisons to Argentine forward Lionel Messi and Brazil legend Pelé, who has declared Neymar as "an excellent player".[4]
Neymar joined Santos in 2003 and, after raising through the ranks, was promoted to their first team squad. He made his debut for Santos in 2009, in which he quickly made his breakthrough, becoming a first team regular and being voted the Best Young Player of the 2009 Campeonato Paulista. Further honours followed, with Neymar being voted best player as Santos won the 2010 Campeonato Paulista, and also being top scorer in the 2010 Copa do Brasil with 11 goals. Neymar finished the 2010 season with 42 goals in 60 games as his club achieved the Double. Neymar was again voted best player of the year in 2011 as his side retained the league title, Santos also winning the 2011 Copa Libertadores in which Neymar scored 6 goals in 13 appearances, making him the best player of the competition. He also played a key role in securing a Continental Double for his team, Santos' first since 1963. He received the Bronze Ball in the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup, with Santos making it to the final, where they were defeated by Spanish club FC Barcelona, 4–0.[5][6]
Neymar is a Brazilian international, having represented Brazil at Under-17, Under-20 and senior levels. On 10 August 2010, at the age of 18, he made his debut for Seleção wearing the number 11 jersey, in a friendly match against the United States; he scored from a header in the 28th minute, contributing to Brazil's 2–0 win. He was the top scorer of the 2011 South American Youth Championship with nine goals, including two in the final, in the 6-0 win against Uruguay, thus enabling Brazil to win their 11th title in this competition. In 2012, SportsPro magazine rated Neymar as the most marketable athlete in the world, ahead of Lionel Messi (3rd).[7]
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July 10th, 2012
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