Having just completed our sixth signing session with Leo Messi, the Argentinean was an obvious choice for this week's Forward Friday. Messi signs exclusively with Icons, and you can check out his amazing new range here.

"I've run out of adjectives to describe him," confessed Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola back in March 2010. Indeed, the brilliance of Leo Messi is not easy to put into words. With every season that passes, the best player of his generation strengthens claims that he is the best of all-time, and the eulogies that cascade his way are wholly justified.

Messi is beyond hyperbole. Combining sensational speed and close control with phenomenal balance and power, he is an utterly devastating force. His technical prowess is almost superhuman. The ball can appear glued to his feet as he glides effortlessly past defenders, and when he's not smashing the ball into the net, he's expertly carving out chances for his teammates to do it for him.

FIFA Ballon d'Or winner in 2010, Messi, 24, has already helped Barcelona to five La Liga titles and three Champions League wins, including a double last season. Since he was handed the departing Ronaldinho's iconic number 10 shirt at the start of the 2008/09 season, Messi has scored an incredible 141 goals in 161 games. During that time Barcelona have claimed a hat-trick of La Liga titles.

Messi was born in the Argentinian city of Rosario on 24^th June 1987 to a factory steel worker and a part-time cleaner. His life-changing move to Barcelona came in 2000 at the age of 13. Astonished by the level of ability he demonstrated on trial in Catalonia, Barcelona's sporting director Carles Rexach hurriedly scribbled out a contract on a napkin and - several signatures later - Messi was enrolled at Barcelona's renowned La Masia youth academy.

His first-team breakthrough came under Frank Rijkaard. Having already featured in friendlies as a 16-year-old, Messi made his league debut on 16 October 2004 against RCD Espanyol. At 17 years and 114 days he became the youngest player ever to appear in a La Liga match.

It didn't take him long to break into the Argentina set up either. At the 2005 under-20 World Cup the explosive Messi fired six goals and was named the winner of the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe as Argentina emerged triumphant. That August, Argentina manager José Pékerman handed the young prodigy his senior debut in a friendly against Hungary, but within a minute of coming on as a substitute in the 63^rd minute, Messi swung an arm at a defender tugging his shirt and was sent off. It was an acrimonious start to an international career that has yet to scale the great heights he is accustomed to at club level, but at 24, Messi has time on his side.

Picking out highlights from a career bursting with glorious moments is not easy, but amid comparisons to the great Diego Maradona, April 2007 seems a good time to start. Up against Getafe in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey, Messi picked up the ball just inside his own half, and with his mop of long hair streaming behind him, he produced a carbon copy of Maradona's legendary solo goal against England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. A few weeks later he even reproduced Maradona's infamous 'hand of God' moment when his blatant handball past Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni was allowed to stand.

"He is my Maradona", says Diego of his heir apparent. But the 'new Maradona' looks destined to overtake his idol.

 

In the second in a series of guest blogs for Icons, Daniel Colasimone, editor of the excellent Argentina Football World, gets to the root of Argentina's Copa America failure. 

There was little improvement to be noted in Argentina’s second game against Colombia. I had bussed it up to the city of Santa Fe the previous day with my ‘Hand of Pod’ colleague Dan Edwards, not knowing whether we would be allowed into the game or not.

Even accredited journalists are required by tournament organisers to apply for tickets to each game, and we often do not find out whether we’re in or not until the day before – which has caused quite a lot of inconvenience for those of us travelling around for games. Being (relatively) young and (allegedly) reckless, we decided to risk it, and in on every occasion we have ended up with match tickets.    

The Selección once again lacked cohesion against a promising young Colombian team in the atmospheric stadium known as ‘The Elephant’s Graveyard’. Again, Messi probed, the strikers missed chances and Batista switched between his two stock formations. In the end, Argentina were lucky to escape with a 0-0 draw, with Colombia looking more likely to score in the second half.

Notably, the Santa Fe crowd, who had been so supportive to begin with, began to turn on their own team. Messi’s head dropped noticeably as he was well marshalled by the excellent Colombians, especially defensive midfielder Carlos Sanchez.

The roadshow of mediocrity moved on to Cordoba, the blondest city in Argentina due to a high proportion of families with German blood. ‘Che’ Guevara spent most of his childhood there, and perhaps Batista was overwhelmed by a similar revolutionary zeal when he decided to drop Tevez, Lavezzi, Cambiasso and Banega for Agüero, Di Maria, Gago and Higuain and fully embrace the least worst of his two plans, the 4-2-1-3 attacking formation, for the must-win match against Costa Rica.

The renamed and revamped Mario Alberto Kempes stadium proved to be a booming stronghold, with the boisterous locals expressing their support for Argentina, and Messi especially. ‘Messi, we believe in you’ and ‘Messi: They talk a lot, but they know little’ were two of the banners displayed by fans, after the Barcelona man had once again unfairly been allotted much of the blame for Argentina’s shoddy performances so far by certain clueless factions of the local media.

And the little genius repaid the people of Cordoba in kind. He turned in an astounding performance, setting up a dozen gilt-edged goalscoring opportunities for his strikers. If they had not been so wasteful, the game could have finished 8-0. As it was, Argentina won by three clear goals, and qualified for the quarter finals.

Their inability to finish first in Group A meant that instead of staying in Cordoba for the quarter finals, Edwards and I had to roadtrip it back to Santa Fe where Argentina would take on fellow Copa America heavy hitters Uruguay. 

Tomorrow, the final part of Daniel's analysis will offer 5 simple reasons why Argentina failed. You can read Part One here.

 

In the first of a series of guest blogs for Icons, Daniel Colasimone, editor of the excellent Argentina Football World, gets to the root of Argentina's Copa America failure. 

Having travelled around to watch Argentina’s four games in this Copa America the recurring theme surrounding their insipid campaign seems to have been not so much the lack of a game plan but the lack of tactical flexibility required to discover an effective game plan.

Coach Sergio Batista, after a honeymoon period lasting several months, was on the receiving end of heavy criticism from the local press leading into the tournament. Some of it was justified.

Batista failed badly on the man-management side of things, especially regarding the Carlos Tevez affair. After insisting for months that Tevez was surplus to requirements, on the eve of the tournament, Batista did a complete about face and named the Manchester City forward in his squad. He even went so far as to select him in his starting line-up for the opening two games.

Hollow press conferences where he spoke without conveying any actual information and a penchant for posting kitschy pictures on Twitter further estranged Batista from the Argentine media. Going into the tournament, Batista's ideas for the national team did not seem too outrageous at all, at least in my mind. He spoke of exploiting Argentina's greatest asset, Lionel Messi, to his full potential.

He spoke of a Barcelona-style formation, designed to allow Messi to feel most comfortable and to take advantage of Argentina’s abundance of adept passing midfielders and skilful forwards. Batista’s ‘Plan B’, should the Barcelona-cloned 4-3-3 fail to function, would be to switch to a 4-2-1-3, with Messi as enganche (playmaker) behind three forwards. Well and good.

The Selección’s first match was against supposed whipping boys Bolivia in the shiny, roofed La Plata stadium. It’s a newly improved stadium, unique in Argentina that it is not rundown and exposed to the elements, but also in that it lacks much of the atmosphere of most grounds here.

Batista made his first tactical mistake before the match started by, as I’ve already mentioned, shoehorning the people’s choice, Carlos Tevez into the starting XI in place of Angel Di Maria, who had started on the left side of attack in recent friendlies. His midfield three was Javier Mascherano, Ever Banega and Esteban Cambiasso; all ‘number fives’ ostensibly – defensive midfielders with passing ability – with Messi in the ‘false 9’ role in the centre of the front three.

Cambiasso was curiously the midfielder usually found furthest forward, however, rather than the player expected to combine most with Messi, Banega. It didn’t work, and Argentina looked just as lacking in team fluidity as during last year’s World Cup.

Messi left defenders for dead but found nobody to link up with. Tevez went on solo runs that were easily halted by well-positioned defenders. There was no overriding thought pattern linking everything together.

At half time Batista switched to Plan B, bringing on Di Maria for Cambiasso, but Bolivia had scored within minutes of the restart. Argentina at least looked more dangerous, and eventually levelled through substitute Kun Agüero who volleyed in superbly. Bolivia, however, held on for the draw.

Perhaps Bolivia had come to this Copa America with a newfound resolve? Perhaps they would be the surprise packets of the tournament? We would find out in later group games that it was in fact a very limited Bolivian outfit, further damning Argentina’s performance in retrospect.

A post-match interview with one of the Argentine players may have taken the edge of the freezing polar winds that could be felt in all corners of the Estadio Único, but the mixed zone turned out to be an unregulated zoo. Short of crowd surfing my way to the front, there was no way of getting a word with Mascherano, Agüero and co. 

Stay tuned next week for Parts Two and Three of Daniel's assessment of Argentina's Copa America shambles...

It wouldn't be summer without an international tournament and after the relative let down that was the 2010 World Cup, the lense is coming into focus over the continent of South America. The Copa America 2011 is almost here and it promises to be one of the best in living memory.

In the run up to Friday's kick off, we're going to be giving you a daily dose of previews, providing team by team guides. We'll be offering tips and suggestions as to who to watch out for and telling you who we think the Icons of Copa America 2011 are going to be. Today, we start with Group A.

Argentina

 

The history: Alongside Uruguay, Argentina are the most successful team in Copa America history with 14 wins. Their last victory, though, was Ecuador '93 when a side inspired by all time greats Batistuta and Redondo defeated Mexico in the final. Defeated finalists last time out, La Albiceleste will be hoping substance trumps style on the big stage, having flattered to deceive in major tournaments of late.

The star players: Where to start with this current crop? The conveyer belt of Argentinian playmakers has been in overdrive of late... you can take your pick from Icons' own Leo Messi and Kun Aguero (above), Carlos Tevez and Angel Di Maria,  Diego Milito and Javier Pastore.

One to watch: Ever Banega has been pulling up trees in La Liga with Valencia this season. This is a chance for the classy midfielder to make his mark on the international stage.

Impress your mates:The great Fernando Redondo missed Argentina's 1998 finals campaign because he refused to obey coach Daniel Passarella's instructions to cut his hair.

Colombia

 

The history: The Colombians have a surprisingly poor record in the Copa America, despite churning out some of the continent's finest exports over the years. Their sole victory came on home soil in 2001, when they beat Mexico 1-0 in the final. Perhaps one of their most notorious contributions to the tournament's history was when eccentric, goalscoring 'keeper Jorge Campos threw a hilarious hissy fit after scoring an own goal against Venezuela in 1995.

The star players: Since the appointment of Andre Villas Boas as Chelsea boss, Radamel Falcao (above) of Porto has been strongly linked with the London club. Alongside Brazilian Hulk, he has been prolific in front of goal over the past season, firing a record 18 goals in the Europa League.

One to watch: Premier League fans will be interested to see how Wigan's Hugo Rodallega cuts it on the international stage, whilst there has been some clamour for the signature of Udinese defender Cristian Zapata over recent weeks.

Impress your mates: Colombia were involved in the highest scoring draw in World Cup history: a 4-4 tie with the Soviet Union way back in 1962.

Bolivia

 

The history: Bolivia are traditionally one of the weakest of the South American nations and are currently on an unenviable run of not winning a game since 1997. They have, however, lifted the trophy - way back in 1963 and it's no coincidence that their best performances have been on the extreme altitude of home soil. 

The star players: The majority of the Bolivian players ply their trade within the country, meaning outside South America they are something of an unknown quantity. Again, fans of Wigan may recognise the striker Marcelo Martins (above), who played on loan for them last season. Bolivia's highest profile player, he's been on the books of Shakhtar Donetsk since 2008 without really making a breakthrough.

One to watch: As one of the youngest players of the tournament, it might be worth keeping your eye on Juan Carlos Arce.

Impress your mates: In 2007, a physiotherapist admitted prescribing Viagra to the Bolivian national team to help them play at high altitude in the capital of La Paz.

Costa Rica

 

The history: Costa Rica are taking part in their fourth Copa America, having been invited to replace Japan following the earthquake and tsunami tragedies earlier this year. Despite being outsiders, their record is respectable and the Central Americans have twice been quarter finalists.

The star players: ... are all at home. Having competed in the Gold Cup earlier this summer, the squad taken by Ricardo La Volpe is young and experimental, with no household names. Randall Brenes (pictured) is the squad's top scorer with four international goals, but this should be a learning curve for all involved.

One to watch: Take your pick. There are nine uncapped players in the squad and only three have reached double figures for appearances. 

Impress your mates: The worst turnout for a Football World Cup qualifier was recorded in Costa Rica in 2006, when no one at all turned up to watch Costa Rica play Panama in a CONCACAF qualifier.

Don't forget to visit tomorrow to get your Group B Preview. Also, check out our fantastic range of Copa America merchandise, featuring Maradona, Messi, Kaka, Aguero, Suarez and Passarella.

Every football fan has a hero, the one player they grew up idolising and that's why so many people love our products when they get them as gifts. When we met Wayne Rooney for our exclusive signing he asked us who we were going to be having signings with in the build up to the World Cup. We mentioned that we'd be doing a signing with the legendary Diego Maradona and asked us for a dedicated shirt.  As we blogged before Diego was more than happy to oblige as he's a big fan of the Man United and England star too.

What links Diego and Wayne?

And so when representatives of Icons met up with Wayne again last week we were pleased to hand over the signed, framed Icons Maradona shirt with a personal dedication to Wayne.

Here's a pleased Rooney with his new present, which he'll hang on his wall, just like all the other football fans in the world who get a piece of memorabilia from their heroes through Icons.

Apart from the fact that they are both incredible footballers...?  Earlier this month the icons team travelled down to Buenos Aires to meet up with Argentinian legend and current national team Manager, Diego Maradona.

As you can imagine, meeting up with Maradona was a dream come true for the team, and to do it in El Diego's back garden made it even more special. Make sure you take a look at the fantastic new personally hand-signed Argentina 1986 World Cup Winners shirts and brand new signed photographs capturing three classic moments from Maradona's World Cup in 1986.

* Maradona's famous "Hand of God"
* Maradona Vs Belgium
* Maradona lifting the World Cup

So what links Maradona and Rooney?  Well you may recall that a few months ago when we met up with Rooney in Manchester, we said we'd ask Maradona to sign a shirt for Rooney...  As you can see below, Maradona was only too happy to oblige!