A Football Report

Looking back at Messi’s first goal with FC Barcelona.

Yes, he’s scored 234 goals with Barça. But just hold on a minute won’t you? We need to go back to 2005 for this. We need to go back to when Andres Iniesta had a full head of hair and Ronaldinho did whatever he pleased with a smile on his face. You’re on board for this? Alright then.

It was the 87th minute and Barça were up 1-nil against Albacete. Leo came on for Samuel Eto’o, the man who eventually left Barcelona with 130 goals to his name. Lionel Messi would go on to score in the dying seconds of the game, of course.

Yet few remember that on his debut he scored two remarkable goals. One was wrongly disallowed. It was a perfectly timed run to the far side, with an Albacete defender ruining the offside trap. Ronaldinho slipped him in with an exquisite flick, and Messi chipped the ball casually into the side-netting. Of course, the goal did not stand, but it only took another minute for Ronaldinho and Messi to create the exact same combination. The second time around, there was no denying the young Argentine’s class. The Camp Nou had witnessed the beginning of something they never could have imagined. A 17-year-old Leo Messi scoring two goals in two minutes.

No one had their hands in the history books at that point, but they do now. And they’re keeping those books wide open. Lionel Messi is FC Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer at the age of 24. I’m not here to discuss if he’s better than Pelé or Maradona because genius is unquantifiable. And if you’re here to mindlessly compare legends, then may an angry Pepe be unleashed on to you.

The truth is, we may not appreciate him every game. We may not even appreciate every goal that he scores. We may have become accustomed to the ridiculous. But there is no reason to say that Leo does not deserve to be in the position he is in. Goal number 234, enjoy your time in the spotlight. It won’t be long until 235 comes around…