On This Day: Messi won his 4th consecutive Ballon d'Or; Hazard was born

Hi all, welcome to All Football's On This Day! Let's find out what happened today (January 7th) in football history. If you have more stories and news that happened on this day in history, please post them in the comment area and share them with AFers!

On this day in 2013, Lionel Messi won the 4th consecutive Ballon d'Or

In 2012, Messi scored an incredible 91 goals for Barcelona and Argentina, beating the previous European record of 85 goals in a calendar year, set by Gerd Müller in 1972. Although he suffered a slight trophy drought that year, with Barcelona winning only the Copa del Rey after taking five pieces of silverware the previous year, Messi's individual accomplishment saw him get 41.60% of the Ballon d'Or vote, almost doubling the tally of second-place finisher Cristiano Ronaldo (23.68%).

The Barcelona forward first won the honor in 2009, before it merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year Award, then won the combined award, the FIFA Ballon d'Or, in 2010 and 2011. 2012 Ballon d'Or was his fourth consecutive award. In 2015, Messi won his 5th Ballon d'Or.

And on this day in 2018, Messi played his 400th game in LaLiga scoring 365 goals in that period.

On this day in 1991, Eden Hazard was born

On 7 January 1991, Chelsea midfielder Eden Hazard was born in La Louvière, Belgium. The son of two footballing parents, Hazard joined Lille in 2005 as a 14-year old youth player. An attacking midfielder/winger, he secured a spot in the senior team for the 2008-09 season and became the youngest goalscorer in club history. Hazard continued to improve in 2010-11, scoring 12 goals and providing 10 assists as Lille won their first league title in over 50 years.

In July of 2012, Chelsea officially confirmed on its website that the club had agreed terms with Lille for the transfer of Hazard. The transfer fee was reported to be priced at £32 million. Up to now, Hazard has made 325 appearances for Chelsea with 101 goals and 84 assists. He helps Chelsea win 2 EPL titles, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup and 1 Europa League champions.

On 18 November 2008, Hazard was called up to the Belgium senior team, for the first time, by manager René Vandereycken for the team's match against Luxembourg. Hazard was appointed captain of Belgium for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. And he finally helps his country secure third place and the best ever World Cup result. At the end of the 2018 FIFA World Cup on 15 July the FIFA Technical Study Group (TSG) selected Hazard as the second best player of the tournament, awarding him the Silver Ball.

On this day in 2007, Marcelo made his Real Madrid debut

Marcelo joined Real Madrid during the January transfer window in 2007. Many spectators hailed him as Roberto Carlos' potential successor in the left-back role.

On 7 January 2007, Marcelo made his debut as a substitute in the 2–0 defeat against Deportivo La Coruña. In the 2007–08 season, Marcelo started nearly all of Madrid's league games under the new manager Bernd Schuster. His ability, speed running across the field, attack, and defence had enabled him to become a very important player for Real Madrid.

On this day in 1987, Davide Astori was born

Astori started his senior career at Serie C clubs Pizzighettone and Cremonese, playing one season for each while on loan from Milan. He spent loan spells at Roma and Fiorentina, before signing with the latter club permanently in 2016; he was subsequently named the team's captain in 2017.

Astori made his international debut for Italy in 2011 and represented his country on 14 occasions, scoring one goal, which came in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup third place play off, where he won a bronze medal.

On 4 March 2018, Astori was found dead in his hotel room prior to a league match. His autopsy revealed cardiac arrest as his cause of death.

Davide Astori would have been 32 today. R.I.P

On this day in 1993, Atletico goalkeeper Oblak was born

Born in the Upper Carniolan town of Škofja Loka, Oblak started playing football at the age of five for his home town club Ločan. Oblak signed for Portuguese club Benfica at the age of 17, and was part of the team that won the domestic treble in the 2013–14 season.

On 16 July 2014, Atlético Madrid announced they had reached an agreement with Benfica for the transfer of Oblak, pending a medical examination. Atlético paid €16 million for the Slovenian player, making him the most expensive goalkeeper in La Liga history. On 6 November 2018, Oblak kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win over Borussia Dortmund in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. By doing so, he kept his 100th clean sheet for Atletico Madrid, a feat which he achieved in 178 official games.

On 11 September 2012, Oblak made his first appearance for the Slovenia national team, starting in a 2–1 away loss against Norway for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He became the first-choice goalkeeper of the national team after the international retirement of Samir Handanović at the end of 2015.

On this day in 2006, Alonso scored a long-distance goal

Liverpool overcame a two-goal deficit against Luton Town in the FA Cup Third Round, Xabi Alonso scored from inside his own half in a 5-3 thriller.

Alonso secured the win with a flourish in stoppage time, collecting the rebound from a Luton corner, rounding the keeper who had come up for the kick, then driving a left-footed shot from inside his own half that curled into the center of the unguarded Luton net.

Liverpool used the victory as a springboard, going on to win the Cup that year.