“Messi was honored by Time magazine as “Athlete of the Year”, after he and the Argentina team won the World Cup for the first time since 1986 and achieved other achievements in soccer. He also created He has had an amazing impact since moving to the US to play for Inter Miami Club in the MLS tournament”, Marca newspaper (Spain) said.
“Messi’s efforts also helped him win the Golden Ball title for the 8th time in his career. And ended 2023 with a very valuable award from Time magazine, something that previously only happened to athletes. Sports in other fields like LeBron James (basketball), Aaron Judge (baseball) or Simone Biles (gymnastics) can get it,” Marca newspaper shared.
Messi is not only the first football player in history to be honored by Time magazine, he is also the first non-American athlete to receive the greatest honor from a prestigious American newspaper.
“Messi’s brilliant achievements at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar convinced Time magazine to honor him. At the club level, Messi also scored 16 goals and had 16 assists for PSG, winning the title. won Ligue 1 (France). In the Champions League season 2022 – 2023, Messi also scored 4 goals and had 4 assists after 7 matches.
Messi moved to Inter Miami Club of former player David Beckham as president in the summer. Here, he created the biggest football fever in America since David Beckham himself came to play in the years 2007 – 2012. Messi and Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup, scoring 10 goals and 1 assist. He also had 2 more assists in the final of the America’s Cup (US Open Cup), but Inter Miami could not win the title”, Marca newspaper wrote.
“I had many choices. I really wanted to return to Barcelona, but in the end I could not achieve my intention. The invitation from Saudi Arabia was also very significant. But after many evaluations and analyzes with the family, family, I decided to go to Inter Miami. This is an exciting decision, MLS and American football have given me more opportunities to show my abilities and explore a new sport”, Messi shared in Time magazine.
