The Best Moments from Magical Messi | Thebigtip

Lionel Messi has once again certified himself as the greatest footballer of the modern era by winning his second consecutive Ballon D’ Or award. It is a deserved accolade for the diminutive Argentine, who experienced a stellar 2010 season, irrespective of his failure to win last year’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Here are the top moments which played a key role in allowing Messi to retain his world player of the year crown.
1. Fresh from winning his first Ballon D’ Or for his exploits in 2009, Messi began the 2010 season in stellar fashion, scoring a hat trick in FC Barcelona’s 5-0 route of Tenerife in rd 17 of La Liga to cement his team’s hold on the Spanish Primera title.
2. Messi produced arguably the best individual showing from any player last season in the quarter-final stage of the Champions League against Arsenal at the Nou Camp. Trailing by a goal and staring elimination in the face, Messi took the game by the scruff of the neck and netted four spectacular goals to guide FC Barcelona to a 4-1 win which secured their place in the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.
3. Just four days after his magnificent showing against Arsenal, Messi certified his status as a player for the big occasion, scoring the first goal in FC Barcelona’s 2-0 victory over classic rivals Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. It was a win which all but sealed Barcelona’s domestic title defence.
4. With so much expected of Messi at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the 23 year old started the tournament in stunning fashion, guiding Argentina to a 1-0 victory over Nigeria. Indeed the brilliance of Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama was the only thing keeping the Barcelona maestro at bay, as Messi constantly mesmerised Nigeria’s defence.  Despite failing to score a goal in South Africa, Messi was by far Argentina’s best player and ended up being one of the stars of the tournament.