- published: 06 Jan 2016
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Arda Turan (born 30 January 1987) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Spanish club FC Barcelona and is captain of the Turkey national team.
He is mostly known for his ball control, dribbling skills, and vision. At the age of 21, prior to the 2009–10 season, he was made the captain of Galatasaray. Turan is the first Turk to win the La Liga title, achieving this in the 2013–14 season.
Turan was ranked 38th in "The 100 Best Footballers in the World" by The Guardian in 2014, the only player on the list to be born in Turkey. Down by 40 steps compared to previous year, Turan was ranked 78th in Guardian's list of 2015. On 25 November 2014, Turan was nominated for the UEFA Team of the Year for 2014, among 40 other players.
As of June 2015, he has 80 senior national caps and 14 goals for Turkey and following a successful UEFA Euro 2008 campaign, he was ranked eighth in a selection of the 100 Best Young Football Players in the World piece published by Spanish magazine Don Balón in July 2008.
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, GOIH (born 5 February 1985), known as Cristiano Ronaldo (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾɨʃtiˈɐnu ʁuˈnaɫdu]), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid and the Portugal national team. He is a forward and serves as captain for Portugal. By the age of 22, Ronaldo had received Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations. The following year, in 2008, he won his first Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He then won the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2013 and 2014. In September 2015, Ronaldo scored his 500th senior career goal for club and country.
Often ranked as the best player in the world and rated by some in the sport as the greatest of all time, in 2015 Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation, during its 100th anniversary celebrations. He is the first player to win four European Golden Shoe awards. With Manchester United and Real Madrid, Ronaldo has won three Premier Leagues, one La Liga, one FA Cup, two Football League Cups, two Copas del Rey, two UEFA Champions Leagues, one UEFA Super Cup and two FIFA Club World Cups.
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾes ˈmesi]; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and rated by many in the sport as the greatest of all time, Messi is the only football player in history to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or five times, four of which he won consecutively, and the first player to win three European Golden Shoes. With Barcelona he has won seven La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, as well as three Copa del Rey titles. A prolific goalscorer, Messi holds the records for most goals scored in La Liga (299), a La Liga season (50), a calendar year (91), a Champions League match (five), and most Champions League seasons (five).
Born and raised in central Argentina, Messi was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child. At age 13, he relocated to Spain to join Barcelona, who agreed to pay for his medical treatment. After a fast progression through Barcelona's youth academy, Messi made his competitive debut aged 17 in October 2004. Despite being injury-prone during his early career, he established himself as an integral player for the club within the next three years, finishing 2007 as a finalist for both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award, a feat he repeated the following year. His first uninterrupted campaign came in the 2008–09 season, during which he helped Barcelona achieve the first treble in Spanish football. At 22 years old, Messi won the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award by record voting margins.