Against Atlético de Madrid, Lionel Messi reached the 700 goals milestone in his career. He scored the 700th goal, an elegantly executed panenka shot from the penalty spot in a La Liga match on 30 June, 2020.
The statistics is out there of his 700 goals:
630 goals for FC Barcelona
441 goals for La Liga
70 goals are for the Argentina National team
582 goals with his left leg
90 goals by penalty kick
Messi did not celebrate his 700th goal as the 2-2 draw in the Spanish League dealt a major blow to Barcelona’s title wish. FC Barcelona’s third draw in four rounds left them in the second place on the league table, one point behind the leader Real Madrid. FCB has 70 points from 33 matches while Real Madrid has 71 points from 32.
Still the world wanted to celebrate the football wizard’s new achievement. His goals have the same recipe. All of those were a golazo. These are free-kicks, slaloms in which he leaves all defenders behind, strikes from outside the box after having dribbled past the goalkeeper with a header or volley or with a panenka penalty shot.
LM10 continues to increase his number of goals year after year. He kicked off with his goal number one against Albacete on May 2005. He scored first 100th goal against Dinamo Kyiv in September 2009. On August, 2011, his 200th was against Real Madrid. Just after a year on October, number 300 was achieved against Rayo Vallecano. The 400th was celebrated while facing Granada on September, 2014. His goal number 500 was against Valencia on April, 2016. Then, he completed the 600th on March, 2018 against Atlético de Madrid with an amazing free-kick. Then Messi rounded off his 700 career goals against the same team with which he also had his 600th.
Messi is the seventh member in this ‘700 Club’.
Josef Bican has 805 goals in 530 matches.
Romario has 772 goals in 993 matches.
Pele has 767 goals in 831 matches.
Ferenc Puskas has 746 goals in 754 matches.
Gerd Muller has 735 goals in 793 matches.
Cristiano Ronaldo has 728 goals in 1005 matches.
Lionel Messi has 700 goals in 862 matches.
Let us celebrate Messi’s latest achievement with an imaginary interview with him, on behalf of millions of fans:
Question: Congratulations, Sir, on the 700th goal! When you get the ball, do you think about your next step or is your game more spontaneous?
Answer: Definitely it is important to have the next step but it comes to me spontaneously.
Question: At what age did you realise that you have some amazing skills on the field?
Answer: I was not even in my teens then. But I played so naturally that it did not occur to me consciously. My grandma, Celia who provided lot of support to me, used to tell others about it.
Question: Do you have any competitive desire to play in the English Premier League?
Answer: No. I have current contract with Barcelona till 2021 and if thereafter the club is still interested in me I would love to be with them.
Question: What has been the greatest advice given to you by any of your coach?
Answer: When on the field think of the ball and your feet only.
Question: When are you planning to come to India? You know you have a huge fan base here.
Answer: Whenever an opportunity would arise. I know I have numerous dedicated fans in India.
Question: How do you live with the pressure of your position? Are you self-critical?
Answer: Obviously there is tremendous pressure. Yes, I am always assessing myself. Otherwise you cannot reach the top and be there for long.
Question: How did you cope up with the World Cup and Copa America losses?
Answer: It really hurt. But then with the passing of time I convinced myself that I must continue to play.
Question: How do you feel when people criticise you for your lesser performance in the Argentina national team?
Answer: It pains me as I always dream to provide my best for my country. But there are some things which you cannot control even if you wish.
Question: You have donated around one million dollars to Hospital Clinic, a public hospital in Barcelona and half a million euros to the Fundacion Garrahan in Argentina to help in the battle to control the coronavirus. Then what is the real issue between you and the court regarding the tax and jail controversy?
Answer: I think everybody must make such contributions for social good. About the legal issues my lawyers are taking care of them.
Question: How do you maintain the balance between your professional and personal life so well?
Answer: I think both are essential parts of my life but I do not pursue one at the cost of the other.
Question: What advice do you want to preach to the upcoming football players with ambition to be professionals?
Answer: What they need is hard work, sacrifice and luck. I know it is complicated but they must fight to the end.
Me: Thank you for sparing some of your most precious time for this interview. All the best for your future endeavours. The world is with you.
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