91 goals, that’s the new record Lionel Messi set up in the year-ending match on Saturday after breaking his own record of 90 in a single calendar year. The amazing achievement has put the Argentine forward on a bar with some football greats including Pele and Maradonna in history.
In Barcelona where Messi lives and plays, the well sought-after superstar is the icon of football. Here is more about the Messi frenzy from CCTV’s Julie Scheier.
You can’t think of Barcelona Football Club without thinking about lionel Messi. His name has become synonymous with the club and the city.
The Argentinian forward and three-time FIFA player of the year has become the Club’s crown jewel. Messi’s achievements have already broken Germany’s great Gerd Mueller’s 40-year-old record for most goals in a year.
Everywhere you go into the Catalan Capital you see the colours of Barcelona’s Football Club. In this fiercely independent region of Spain the club is perceived as their national team.
Football in Spain is a serious business. This is one of Barça’s football fan clubs which has its own bar and recreational facility. Angel Perez is the President of this association and a life long fan of FC Barcelona.
Angel Perez, said, President of Football Fan Club, said, "For many FCB is number 1 after the family, for me, to talk about Barça is to talk about Catalonia.
“At 25 years old he is the greatest football player in history and that is comparing him to the great, like Pele, Maradonna, Beckenbauer, Kroiss, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zidane, but like Messi there has been no other".
Messi was born in Argentina and came at the age of 14 to Barcelona to train at la Masia, the famous youth trainning programme. Even though he is not Catalan by birth the region seems to have adopted him as their own.
Lionel Messi’s success is a combination of many factors that has earned him a place in the hearts of most catalan’s.
Julie Scheier signing off for Sport Scene in Barcelona.