Lionel Andrés Messi Cuccittini[note 1] (Spanish pronunciation: [ljoˈnel anˈdɾez ˈmesi] (About this soundlisten);[A] born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains both Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Often considered the best player in the world and regarded by many as one of the greatest players of all time[6][7][8] Messi has won a record-tying five Ballon d'Or awards[note 2] four of which he won consecutively and a record five European Golden Shoes. He has spent his entire professional career with Barcelona where he has won 32 trophies including nine La Liga titles four UEFA Champions League titles and six Copas del Rey. Both a prolific goalscorer and a creative playmaker Messi holds the records for most official goals scored in La Liga (398) a La Liga season (50) a club football season in Europe (73) a calendar year (91) El Clásico (26) most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League (8) as well as those for most assists in La Liga (159) and the Copa América (11). He has scored over 660 senior career goals for club and country.