At 23 years old, Lionel Messi has achieved so much when it comes to his playing soccer. Scoring the winning goal for Barcelona in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United, the Italian-Argentinean just might be one of this generation's top players.

In Saturday's match, Messi displayed a powerful presence of sublime footwork that secured the possession of the ball. But this isn't the first time he has showed he can be a behemoth on the field. Messi started his soccer career at a tender age of 16; the youngest athlete to ever play on Barcelona's A team in 2003 until Bojan Krkic's field debut in 2007. Messi then became the bearer for many titles throughout his career, including La Liga's youngest player and the coveted FIFA Player of the Year, in which he beat other Spanish superiors Christiano Ronaldo, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Kaka. Messi also won the 2009 Balloon D'Or, a prestigious award given to soccer's top player judged by an esteemed panel of sports experts and journalists. Messi's score beat second placer Ronaldo by a staggering, record-breaking margin of 240 points - the most impressive record for a 23 year old in the history of the sport.

It wasn't all field victory and glory for Messi at the start, but he sure was lucky. Messi suffered from a growth hormone disorder that prevented him from physically reaching his fullest, but FC Barcelona took him in and offered to pay for the medication since he made his debut. Today, Messi is hailed UEFA's top player after the triumphant Champions League victory, and continues to improve his more than impressive statistics as an athlete.

Messi won the gold for Argentina's soccer team in the Beijing Olympics, Barcelona's FIFA World Cup title, and the team's 2009 and 2011 Champions League trophies among many other record-breaking feats. Messi is set to play for FC Barcelona until 2016.