Most Accomplished 22 Year Old?

On the heels of Canada's 3-2 OT gold medal win, ESPN's Sportscenter ran a segment detailing some of the most accomplished 22 year olds in sports history, with the question of where Sidney Crosby fits in. Crosby now has an Olympic gold medal to go with his Stanley Cup, World Junior Championships gold and silver medals, Art Ross Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy, along with a litany of other awards and honors. Other athletes that ESPN chose to spotlight included Tiger Woods (Masters win, #1 world ranking) and Magic Johnson (NCAA championship, NBA championship), among others.

But one name that they failed to mention, who is still 22 along with Sid the Kid, is the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi. Along with being the world player of the year in the game that the entire world plays, he has amassed the following: Olympic gold medal, FIFA U-20 World Cup champion, 3 time Spanish League champion, Spanish Cup champion, 3 time Spanish Supercup champion, 2 time UEFA Champion's League champion, UEFA Super Cup champion, and FIFA Club World Cup champion. Those are just his team accomplishments. The young Argentine has also racked up numerous individual awards, including the aforementioned World Player of the Year, Ballon d'Or, Onze d'Or, 3 time Player of the Year of Argentina, 3 time selection to the FIFPro World XI, and many other player of the year and player of the tournament awards. But alas, if he and the Argentinean National Team were to win the World Cup this summer, it would be too late to add to his accomplishments by age 22, as he will turn 23 on June 24. But he can still add more domestic league honors and is well on his way, as he is tied for the lead in goals scored and Barcelona is on top of the tables in La Liga.

I think this is a glaring omission on ESPN's part, although it is hard to blame them, as most Americans would not necessarily understand all that Messi has accomplished. But just the sheer number of awards and accomplishments has to say something. All that Crosby and these others have done is very impressive indeed, but none of these compare to the dominance that Messi has shown in the world's biggest sport.