Messi created history when receiving Time magazine's "Outstanding Athlete" a.ward, Ronaldo only knew how to wish

After w.inning the World Cup with Argentina, Lionel Messi was officially honored by Time magazine as the athlete of the year. In particular, he was the first football player to be awarded this title.

Accordingly, the prestigious magazine Time has voted Messi as the "best sports athlete" in 2023. In addition, the Argentine superstar also has the honor of appearing on the cover. Thus, the Inter Miami captain created history by becoming the first player to win the title as an individual.

Lionel 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.

Time is highly regarded for its prestige, famous for nearly 100 years of awarding Person of the Year since 1927. The magazine's "Athlete of the Year" was born in 2019. At that time, the U.S. women's soccer team was awarded the title. Subsequent winners were LeBron James (basketball), Simone Biles (TDDC) and Aaron Judge (baseball).

The famous magazine praised the contributions of the Argentine superstar, to the development of football in the US, since joining Inter Miami in July. The 2022 World Cup winner created an unprecedented effect, leaving the stands packed with people. Fares have been pushed to historic levels but are still in a "burnt" condition.

"There is an opinion that Messi succeeds in the US because of the poor competitiveness of MLS. But evidence suggests Messi's success goes far beyond what he did for Miami.

Besides w.inning the Ballon d'Or, Messi is the only player in Europe's top five leagues to have 20 goals or assists in all competitions in his final season with PSG. In addition, after a superb performance in the Leagues Cup, Messi continued his impressive form, scoring three goals for Argentina in World Cup qualifying," Time wrote.

"I had choices. I desperately wanted to return to Barcelona, but in the end was unable to achieve my intentions. The invitation from Saudi Arabia was also significant. But after a lot of evaluation and analysis with my 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 told the magazine.

The a.ward has just been awarded, contributing to extending the 36-year-old striker's massive individual title gold table. According to AS statistics, the striker born in 1987 has won 68 large and small awards in his career. The most significant are 8 Golden Balls, 2 FIFA The Best awards, 6 European Golden Boots, 2 World Cup Golden Balls and 6 Champions League top scorers.

Since moving to the United States and playing for Inter Miami, Messi has made an immediate impact. He scored 10 goals in seven games, helping Miami win the Leagues Cup. Worth mentioning, this is the first title of this club.

The Argentina captain also played a key role in leading Miami to the US Open Cup final. But he was unfortunately absent from the championship match due to injury and Tata Martino's team lost to Houston Dynamo.

"From day one, Messi arrived early and left later than any other player. He is the most professional player in our team," said David Beckham, co-owner of Inter Miami.

Notably, in his first season in the US, he only made 14 appearances, but the "father of 3" scored 11 goals and nearly helped Miami win a ticket to the MLS playoffs. The 36-year-old created a fever across the country even though in this country, football is not a popular sport.

Messi received sad news, dropping 9 places in the world's best player rankings but still ahead of Ronaldo Snow18:28:26 23/12/2023After losing to Ronaldo in the best striker rankings, Messi decided to take revenge, leaving the Portuguese star 17 places behind in the list of the best players in the world.