14 moments for 14 years

Rather than entering into emphatic flattery, all expressed over the past 14 years, it is best to review 14 moments that summarize part of what have been almost three lustrums of magic. Football, goals, talent, passion, fantasy. Of Leo Messi, an irreplaceable footballer who should never hang up his boots.

562 goals, 214 assists, 33 titles and five Golden Balls later, it is a must to highlight the day it all began. The starting point, his first great moment. It happened in the defunct Montjuic on October 16, 2004. At the start of the second half, Rijkaard took off Deco and gave Messi, with '30' on the back, his debut. Football, almost without anyone knowing, was on the verge of being turned on its head.

2005 was the year of his first 'Blaugrana' goal, against Albacete after being assisted by Ronaldinho. His opportunity to debut with the 'Albiceleste' also came, in a friendly against Hungary that saw Messi sent off in what was a mere anecdote for his career.

In 2006, his first World Cup, one more unforgettable memory for Argentina. Messi, still at the beginning of his career, did not have the importance of today and completed a World Cup of few big moments. Though, he did score in the win over Serbia.

In 2007, he scored his Maradona-like goal against Getafe, then took part in his first Olympic Games, in 2008. That year, Argentina won the gold medal after a final against Argentina decided by Di Maria. A year later, Messi rounded off an incredible Champions League with an unforgettable goal in Rome that allowed him to lift his first Ballon d'Or. 

2010 was the year of a new coup d'état, with Maradona as coach - he who now constantly calls out the Barça player. In 2011, his first treble; in 2012, the birth of his son Thiago who, as he assured in some interview, changed his life completely.

Then it was his turn to pick up his fourth Ballon d'Or, something no one had achieved before, after finishing the 2014 World Cup as the best player but also with the bitter taste of defeat in the final. In 2015 he lifted his second treble, a year before resigning from the Argentine national team. The same team Argentina that he salvaged last year in qualification for the World Cup and that now, although not everyone confesses it, miss him.