"Barcelona" Lionel Messi Hand Signed 8X10 Color Photo Global Authentic COA

Description

Up for auction "Barcelona" Lionel Messi Hand Signed 8X10 Color Photo.
This item is certified authentic by Global Authentic (GAS) and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity and matching hologram.
ES-1291, ES-1714, ES-4567, ES-4619, ES-4938,
ES-
3985D, ES-4014E
Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini
(
Spanish pronunciation:
[ljoˈnel anˈdɾez ˈmesi]
(
born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional
footballer
who plays as a
forward
and
captains
both Spanish club
Barcelona
and the
Argentina national team
. Often considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record six
Ballon d'Or
awards,
and a record six
European Golden Shoes
. He has spent
his entire professional career
with Barcelona, where he has won a
club-record
34 trophies, including ten
La Liga
titles, four
UEFA Champions League
titles and six
Copas del Rey
. A prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker, Messi holds the records for
most goals in La Liga
(437),
a La Liga
and European league season (50),
most hat-tricks in La Liga
(36) and the
UEFA Champions League
(8), and most
assists
in La Liga (181) and the
Copa América
(12). He has scored over
700 senior career goals
for club and country. Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi relocated to Spain to join Barcelona at age 13, for whom he made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. He established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, and in his first uninterrupted season in 2008–09 he helped Barcelona achieve the first
treble
in Spanish football; that year, aged 22, Messi won his first
Ballon d'Or
. Three successful seasons followed, with Messi winning three consecutive Ballons d'Or, including an unprecedented fourth. During the
2011–12 season
, he set the La Liga and European records for most goals scored in a single season, while establishing himself as
Barcelona's all-time top scorer
. The following two seasons, Messi finished second for the Ballon d'Or behind
Cristiano Ronaldo
—his perceived
career rival
—before regaining his best form during the
2014–15 campaign
, becoming the all-time top scorer in La Liga and leading Barcelona to a historic second treble, after which he was awarded a fifth Ballon d'Or in
2015
. Messi assumed the captaincy of Barcelona in 2018, and in 2019 he secured a record
sixth Ballon d'Or
. An Argentine international, Messi is his country's
all-time leading goalscorer
. At youth level, he won the
2005 FIFA World Youth Championship
, finishing the tournament with both the
Golden Ball and Golden Shoe
, and an
Olympic gold medal
at the
2008 Summer Olympics
. His style of play as a diminutive, left-footed
dribbler
drew comparisons with his compatriot
Diego Maradona
, who described Messi as his
successor
. After his senior debut in August 2005, Messi became the youngest Argentine to play and score in a
FIFA World Cup
during the
2006 edition
, and reached the final of the
2007 Copa América
, where he was named young player of the tournament. As the squad's
captain
from August 2011, he led Argentina to three consecutive finals: the
2014 FIFA World Cup
, for which he won the
Golden Ball
, and the
2015
and
2016 Copas América
. After announcing his international retirement in 2016, he reversed his decision and led his country to qualification for the
2018 FIFA World Cup
, and a third-place finish at the
2019 Copa América
. One of the most famous athletes in the world, Messi has been sponsored by sportswear company
Adidas
since 2006 and has established himself as their leading brand endorser. In 2020, he was awarded the
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
. According to
France Football
, he was the world's highest-paid footballer for five years out of six between 2009 and 2014, and was ranked the
world's highest-paid athlete
by
Forbes
in 2019. Messi was among
Time
's
100 most influential people in the world
in 2011 and 2012.