Great post all around! A couple of things that were missed though, first Messi’s age presented with his accompishments. He has shattered the notion of the football starlet given what he was accomplishing at 18, 19, 20, and 21 years old. Hell had Jose Peckerman played him more in 2006 World Cup he might already have a World Cup trophy on his resume!
These years were once thought to be about potential and an athlete’s future save for El Fenómeno(hint the original Ronaldo) who preceded Messi in his own precocious teenage accomplishments, but like many Brazilians in recent years flamed out far too early.
What Messi did in those years is unprecedented, bordering on absurd and even divine. For context, Neymar, easily the best player 25 or younger in the world, at 25, still has yet to reach the level Messi did at 21 or perhaps even 20 or 19 for that matter.
Second, y’all can’t do an all time post about Messi and not include this highlight goal against Racing Santander in 08–09 season, btw the entire video is worth watching: