On this day in 2000, a 13-year old lad from Rosario, Argentina, joined Barcelona's La Masia and football was never the same.
We are, of course, talking about the one and only Lionel Messi. The Argentine ace had previously trained with his boyhood club Newell's Old Boys but it was decided that he make the move to Catalonia to further his career and fulfil his special potential.
And 18 years on, it's fair to say that Messi has done alright, hasn't he? After progressing through the ranks and being fast-tracked into the first-team in next to no time, Messi has scored just the 556 goals in 642 games, while laying on 215 assists for his teammates.
The 31-year old has lifted a remarkable 33 trophies with Barcelona, not to mention having five Ballon d'Ors to show for his sensational heroics. Moreover, Messi is the Blaugrana's most successful player and top scorer by a long way - and has broken countless records in his glittering career.
Messi's journey wasn't without hurdles, given he had growth home deficiency and needed to have treatment to make him grow. But he's a once in a lifetime talent and we are truly blessed to have seen his greatness.
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Barcelona legend Xavi recalled being "blown away" by a 16-year-old Messi during his first training session for the Catalan giants.
In an interview with Spanish publication AS, the former Spain midfielder spoke about Messi with admiration, going back to a time when he "couldn't believe his eyes" when Messi went one-on-one against Lillian Thuram and Carles Puyol.
They may have been the best defenders in world football at the time, but Xavi claims that the little Argentinian had no fear, taking the pair on in his first session:
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"They'd already told me about this kid, I'd been warned that there was this young Argentinian kid coming through who was very good, Xavi said.
"They'd even mentioned his name but I'd forgotten. But then, when I saw him in training aged just 16 I could see exactly what they were on about. There was a training drill we used to do in which players are one-on-one against [Lilian] Thuram, and [Carles] Puyol.
"I saw Messi take on those two and couldn't believe my eyes. I thought: 'Blimey, here this kid who's only 16 years old, dodging past professional defenders, internationals. Even then you could tell that he was different. It's obvious that he has an innate talent when he is one-against-one, he's fast, he scores goals, he passes, shoots. He's amazing."
Topics: Football News, FC Barcelona, Football, Lionel Messi
