Happy Birthday, Lionel Messi!

Lionel Messi celebrates his 25th birthday today, June 24th, 2012.

He was born on 24th of June, 1987.

It’s been another remarkable year for the three time Ballon d’Or winner, whose 73 goals in 60 matches for Barca set new records at the club and across Europe

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 and FIFA World Player of the Year, and won the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2010 and 2011. 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”. He is consistently cited by football pundits, managers, fellow players and many football fans as the best contemporary player in the world.