42. * Lionel MESSI. Exceptional Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys N°10 jersey, 1999. Exceptional N°10 jersey of Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys worn during the "Pibes 1999" Tournament organised in the town of Trébol, province of Santa Fé. The history of this shirt began with Mario Pereyra, who played for Atlético General Paz Juniors de Cordoba in the 1987 age group. Having achieved good results, they were invited to take part in a friendly match in the city of Rosario, where they played against Newell's Old Boys, said to be the best team in Argentina in its category, and where a certain Lionel Andrés Messi also played. It was during the winter of 1997 that their friendly relationship began. At the time, the young players were staying with their families, Mario habitat with Lucas Scaglia, a childhood friend of Lionel Messi and cousin of Antonela Roccuzzo (Messi's future wife). The days spent in Rosario forged a bond between the two teams, and the following year the planned return meeting between them did not take place. Their reunion came in 1999, when they were invited to the 'Pibes 1999' tournament in El Trébol, Santa Fé province, at the request of Newell's, who recommended them to the organisers. The draw saw them meet in the group phase, a match they lost 4-0 with Lionel Messi scoring 4 goals, but this did not prevent them from qualifying for the rest of the competition. Sharing the same sports complex, the friendship between the players has grown even stronger. As fate would have it, the two teams met in the final of the tournament, and before the match, the parents and managers of the two clubs decided that, at the end of the match, the players would exchange shirts as a souvenir of the good times they had spent together. For the final, the coach asked Mario Pereyra to personally defend the number 10, Lionel Messi. In the first half, Mario was praised for his defence of Messi, but in the second half, despite being at Messi's side throughout the match, he was unable to prevent him from scoring the winning goal for his team after dribbling past the opposition. At the end of the match, Lionel Messi took off his shirt and gave it to Mario Pereyra, who could not have imagined that day that he had just swapped shirts with the future Leo Messi, who a few months later, at the age of 13, would leave for FC Barcelona, where he would become one of the greatest footballers on the planet. Léo Messi, now considered the greatest player of all time, won his first France Football Ballon d'Or, the most prestigious award given to the best player of the year, in 2009, which marked the start of an unprecedented run of four consecutive victories. He now holds 8 Ballon d'Or trophies, 3 more than any other player in history, a record that will be hard to match. Between 2004 and 2021, Messi scored 672 goals for FC Barcelona, the most goals scored by a single club, and set numerous records, including the most goals scored in La Liga (474 goals) and the most goals scored in a calendar year (91 goals in 2012). He also provided more assists than any other player in history (378). Over the course of his career, he has led his teams to an impressive number of major titles for both club and country, including Argentina's gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 10 Spanish league titles, 7 Copa del Rey, 8 Spanish Supercup, 4 Champions League, 3 UEFA Super Cup, 2 Copa America and finally Argentina's memorable victory over France in the final of the 2022 World Cup, where he scored twice, crowning an exceptional career that is not yet over. Leo Messi's unique talent has changed the face of world football forever. This shirt is a testament to the early career of Lionel Messi, who despite his physical shortcomings in his younger years, used it to develop technical skills that would baffle many an opponent throughout his long career, which continues to this day.