Lionel Messi is named TIME’s Athlete of the Year for 2023 after inspiring Inter Miami to their first ever trophy amid stunning start to life in MLS
- Messi has made an incredible impact on US soccer in a short space of time
- As a result, the Argentina captain has been named TIME’s Athlete of the Year
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Lionel Messi has been named TIME’s Athlete of the Year for 2023 following his breathtaking debut season with Inter Miami.
After signing for the MLS team in July, Messi went on to help Miami secure its first ever trophy in the Leagues Cup, scoring 10 goals in seven games on their way to the trophy.
The Argentina captain also played an important part in Miami reaching the US Open Cup final, only for Tata Martino’s men to suffer defeat at the hands of Houston Dynamo when he missed out through injury.
In his first campaign Stateside, he scored a total of 11 goals in 14 games for Miami, who came close to pulling off a late dash to the MLS playoffs.
Messi mania well and truly swept through America, with his Miami jersey said to be so in-demand that even co-owner David Beckham was forced to wait for them to gift to friends.
And following his remarkable impact on US soccer, TIME have announced Messi as their 2023 Athlete of the Year.
He is the first ever individual soccer player to win the prize, with the US Women’s National Team claiming the first in 2019. Basketball legend LeBron James, gymnastics hero Simone Biles and baseball star Aaron Judge picked up the other three awards.
It caps an incredible year for the 36-year-old, who also claimed a record eighth Ballon d’Or award at the end of October.
Messi was duly rewarded for captaining Argentina to World Cup glory at the end of 2022 and then hitting the ground running in Miami in the second half of 2023.
On his debut for Inter, he came off the bench and fired home a stoppage-time free-kick to seal a 2-1 victory over Mexican side Cruz Azul in the Leagues Cup.
Beckham told TIME: ‘I remember getting in the car on the way back, and I said to Victoria, “I’m not even sure I can drive home.”
‘You couldn’t have written it better. It was for MLS, and for America. It was for the future of the game.’
Messi then went on to dazzle US fans on Miami’s way to the Leagues Cup final, before their efforts in the US Open Cup and MLS ultimately ended in disappointment.
Beckham and Co will be hoping that changes in the 2024 campaign, which will be Messi’s first full season as a Miami player.
He was recently spotted hitting the gym with his wife’s personal trainer, who’s famous for his glute exercises, a little over two months before the start of the 2024 MLS season.
The Argentine was filmed by his spouse of six years, Antonela, at a gym, doing pull-ups with her physical therapist, Bret Contreras, a.k.a ‘The Glute Guy’.
‘Chin ups,’ she captioned her Instagram story on Monday morning, showing off her husband with a dip belt with a weight in between his legs.
