Messi makes his mark, quietly but effectively

The transfer of the title of European Player of the Year effectively took place in the Champions League final last May when Lionel Messi eclipsed the 2008 winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Argentina forward scored Barcelona's second goal, with a rare header, putting the seal on a convincing 2-0 victory over Manchester United, and confirmed his place as the tournament's top scorer with nine goals.

"Honestly, I knew that I was among the favourites because Barcelona had a fruitful year in 2009," The Guardian quoted Messi, as telling France Football.

"But I didn't expect to win with such a margin. The Ballon d'Or is very important to me. All the players who won it were great players, and some great players never won it.

"For me it's a big honour to win. I dedicate it to my family, they were always present when I needed them and sometimes felt even stronger emotions than me," he added.

Off the field, the comparison between Ronaldo and Messi could not be more different.

Messi is no strutting superstar with film star looks.

Until he cut his hair last year he resembled a disaffected teenager shuffling about with hunched shoulders, lank locks and a mumbling delivery.

But on the pitch they share many qualities, both tagged as wingers with electric pace and an eye for goal.

Messi usually plays on the right flank even though he is left-footed, and his scampering runs off the wing and cutting across the area to shoot or play-in a team mate, have become a trademark of Barcelona's eye-catching attacking style.

Critics who said Messi was selfish and did not link up well with his team mates were silenced once and for all last year.

The arrival of dynamic right back Daniel Alves at Barcelona freed up Messi from his wing duties, allowing him to move deeper into midfield.

He was able to lose his markers, link up better with Barca's orchestrators Xavi and Andres Iniesta, and burst through the centre on to goal as well.

On top of the nine he scored in Europe, he bagged six in the King's Cup including one in the 4-1 final victory over Athletic Bilbao, and 23 in the league, to finish as Barca's top scorer with a total of 38.

Messi, whose style is usually likened to that of his compatriot and national team manager Diego Maradona, is a product of the Barca youth system and debuted under Frank Rijkaard aged only 16.

Messi, who Argentina coach Diego Maradona picked out as his heir four years ago, was in the youth team in Newells Old Boys in his homeland before Barcelona discovered him.

The club swiftly brought him to Europe - paying for treatment for the youngster's growth hormone deficiency.

He is still only 22 but has amassed three La Liga titles, two European Cups and a King's Cup at club level, and while he has suffered criticism of late for failing to produce his club form with Argentina, he has won awards on the international stage as well.

He helped Argentina win the Under-20 World Cup in 2005, finishing as top scorer in the tournament, and won gold with the national team at the Beijing Olympics last year.

The FIFA World Player of the Year award could soon be sitting on his trophy-laden mantelpiece as well.

"Without growth hormones Lionel would have grown, at best, to 1m50 by the time he reached adulthood," his father Jorge once told L'Equipe Magazine.

Having added to his growing personal trophy haul, Lionel Andres Messi, nicknamed La Pulga - the flea - is now itching to follow up and transfer his talents to the World Cup stage in South Africa next summer.

Last time out, in 2006, he was a frustrated spectator as former coach Jose Pekerman left him on the bench for the 2006 quarter-final penalty shootout loss on penalties to Germany.

Meanwhile, Messi's contract with Barcelona runs to 2016 and has a buyout clause of  250 million euros (228m pounds).

He has made a good start to this season, already scoring nine goals, and impressed in a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid on Sunday.

The 22-year-old is blessed with the same masterly ball control and burst of pace as the great Diego Maradona and his goal against Getafe in a King's Cup match in April 2007 was almost a replica of the former Argentina captain's spectacular solo effort against England in the 1986 World Cup.

Here's a factbox on the Argentine.

* Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe on June 24, 1987.

* Joined Barcelona as a 13-year-old in 2000 and shone in the youth ranks before then-coach Frank Rijkaard gave him his senior debut at the age of 16 in a friendly against Porto in November 2003.

* Led Argentina to glory at the 2005 World Youth Championship in Netherlands, scoring two penalties in a 2-1 final victory over Nigeria. Like Maradona before him, ended the tournament with the best player and top scorer trophies.

* Became a Spanish citizen in September 2005.

* He made his debut for Argentina in a friendly against Hungary in August 2005, the same opponents Maradona made his debut against as a 16-year-old. Messi though was sent off less than a minute after going on as a substitute, for elbowing a defender who had pulled his shirt.

* A bureaucratic argument over whether he could be classed as a European Union player meant he did not represent Barcelona in a competitive game until October 2005. He went on to score six goals in 17 appearances as the club won La Liga for the second year in a row.

* Faced a race against time to make the 2006 World Cup and played only a bit-part role in the tournament. Coach Jose Pekerman was heavily criticised for leaving him on the bench as Argentina were knocked out in the quarter-finals by hosts Germany after a penalty shootout.

* Missed three months of 2006-07 season after breaking a bone in his foot but returned to score a brilliant hat-trick against Real Madrid in a 3-3 draw at the Nou Camp in March.

* Messi was sidelined by injury for six weeks early in 2008 after tearing a muscle in his left thigh in a Champions League match against Celtic.

* Led Argentina to the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and came second in the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year vote behind Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo, who was then with Manchester United but is now at Real Madrid.

* In May 2009 he helped Barcelona win the Champions League final, heading the second goal in a 2-0 victory over Manchester United that sealed his club's third European Cup title after their triumphs in 1992 and 2006.

* In September Messi signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at Barca until 2016.