Hi, I'm Frankie Leong and you're listening to BR FootballX.

Hello and welcome to be our football ranks and today is a very special day. My name is Jack Collins and I am joined as ever by Sam Tai.

Hello mate.

And Dean Jones.

Hello.

And today we're celebrating boys, aren't we?

Because one of the best players of all time is his birthday.

And we wanted to celebrate.

And so Lionel Messi turns 33 today, and I wanted to use the occasion to say some words

I've said before, but ones that still sing.

So please indulge me for another moment for an ode to the king.

See, for me, it's not always about losing or winning.

It's about the players that can instantly start my heart singing.

And it's not unreal statistics that set them apart,

but the fact that the game is not science, it's art.

Totti, Joaquin, Aymar, Ronaldinho,

Raquel May Guti, Ned Virginino,

for the finest of them all, the Queen

B, the sacred cow, wears the number 10 shirt at Barcelona's camp now, skipping, dancing,

laughing through tackles, see as he scampers away, electricity crackles around his feet,

and opposition can only applaud and sigh as the ball hits the net and both hands, point to

sky, creator, finisher, playmaker, technician,

...