Lionel Messi's picture was on the front pages rather than the sports sections of the Spanish media on Thursday, after the World Player of the Year and his father were accused of tax fraud.
As the mercurial Messi rings in his 28th birthday, Rediff.com brings you all the exciting moments from the ace footballer's life.
Diego Maradona's Argentina were impressive 2-0 winners in France on Wednesday as two of world football's heavyweights squared up for a friendly in Marseille. On a hectic day of friendly internationals and a smattering of World Cup qualifiers, David Beckham equalled 1966 World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore's record of 108 caps for an outfield player when he came on for the second half of England's 2-0 friendly defeat in Spain.
"The conditions here have been better than I expected, the conditions are a little bit windy. And considering the air conditioning in the stadiums, it will even get cold during the games," Kramaric said on Monday.
Here are glimpses of unbound joy for the Samurais...
Lionel Messi has clearly become disenchanted with life at Barcelona.
Lionel Messi's goals have fired Argentina into the World Cup last 16 but they will look for a better all-round performance when they meet Switzerland.
Lionel Messi does not need a Copa America win to feel like the king of the world. He captured that crown a long ago, says Dhruv Munjal.
Lionel Messi will have another chance to match or surpass Telmo Zarra's six-decade-old La Liga scoring record of 251 goals when Barcelona host promoted Eibar on Saturday.
Images from the Champions League second-leg match played on Wednesday.
Two goals from Lionel Messi and a poacher's strike from Bojan Krkic gave Barcelona a 3-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in their Spanish Super Cup second leg on Sunday for a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Lionel Messi's ankle injury has ruled him out of Barcelona's league derby with Espanyol on Saturday, and makes him doubtful for their opening game of the Club World Cup, the European champions said on Thursday. The Argentina international twisted his right ankle in Barca's 2-1 Champions League victory away to Dynamo Kiev on Wednesday.
That was also Messi's 500th goal for Barcelona.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is hoping for an injury free 2014 as his recovery from a thigh injury nears completion, the World Player of the Year said on Monday.
Argentine prodigy Lionel Messi emulated Diego Maradona once again on Saturday when he scored a replica of the Argentine great's famous "hand of god" goal with a desperate equaliser against city rivals Espanyol on Saturday.
The referee said in his match report he showed the card because Messi "delayed his return to his half of the pitch after the goal was scored with the intention of wasting time".
Lionel Messi scored in his 12th consecutive La Liga game to help leaders Barcelona earn a 1-1 draw at Valencia, allowing second-placed Atletico Madrid to close to within nine points after a 1-0 win over Real Betis on Sunday.
Barcelona's serial hat-trick scorer Lionel Messi will be looking to take up where he last left off as Argentina captain when he leads his country against Ecuador in a 2014 World Cup qualifier on Saturday.
Salah's strikes brought him to a remarkable 43 goals in all competitions this season, keeping him at the front of the list of top scorers in Europe
Barcelona pulled six points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga when Lionel Messi netted his seventh double of the campaign and set up Alex Song to open his account for the club in a 3-1 success at home to Real Zaragoza on Saturday.
Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo was second, the third time the 2008 winner has finished runner-up, and Barcelona and Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta was third as Spain again missed out.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi produced moments of magic to earn victories for Real Madrid and Barcelona which kept Real 10 points clear at the top of La Liga on Sunday.
Lionel Messi was seen smiling as he and his fellow players worked through persistent rain at the club's Joan Gamper training complex under the orders of new coach Ronald Koeman.
Barcelona great Lionel Messi's new mark of 86 goals in a calendar year could last another 40 years, previous record holder Gerd Mueller said on Monday.
Barcelona were drawn in Group E with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv.
Lionel Messi scored twice and Luis Suarez struck his first La Liga goal as Barcelona crushed struggling Cordoba 5-0 on Saturday.
World Cup winner Argentina topped the FIFA rankings on Thursday for the first time in six years.
'We wanted to compensate for the defeat (against Saudi Arabia). Today it was a great game, we played very well collectively'
Lionel Messi is on course for a record-equalling third consecutive Ballon d'Or, soccer's highest individual award, after the Argentine forward was among the three shortlisted nominees named on Monday.
Lionel Messi scored twice to help Barcelona shake off the disappointment of their midweek Champions League semi-final exit with a 4-1 victory at Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday.
Lionel Messi was hailed by his coach as the world's best player after he scored Barcelona's second goal in their 2-0 Champions League final victory over Manchester United and ended as the competition's top scorer. The match in Rome had been hyped as a duel between the world's two best players, Argentine Messi and United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo was largely ineffective apart from an early flourish and it was Messi who came out on top.
It's good news for football-crazy fans of the city. Argentine superstar Lionel Messi and his teammates will play a FIFA official international friendly against Venezuela at Salt Lake's Yuba Bharati Krirangan on September 2.
Substitute Lionel Messi scored his 38th goal for Argentina as they breezed past Slovenia 2-0 in their final World Cup warmup on Saturday.
Lionel Messi scored two late goals on Saturday as leaders Barcelona won 3-0 away to Hercules, their 15th consecutive victory matching the La Liga record set by Real Madrid in the 1960-61 season.
Rediff.com brings you the best quotes of the day from Brazil!
Barcelona fell to a first home defeat in any competition for more than two years
Argentina's Lionel Messi won the World Player of the Year for the second time in a row on Monday and Jose Mourinho walked off with the coach's award, leaving Spain's World Cup winners disappointed.
A Chelsea deal for Barcelona forward Lionel Messi would be impossible under financial fair play rules, assistant coach Steve Holland said on Friday.
After enthralling the city's soccer fans for five days, the Lionel Messi-led Argentine team on Monday headed for Dhaka for a friendly match against Nigeria, winding up a historic trip to India during which the talismanic striker led his team for the first time in an international game.
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