Laureus Awards 2023: Lionel Messi realized his life’s dream when he won the World Cup last year with Argentina. The win came as a fairy tale ending toward the end of one of this generation’s best players’ career. He then went on to win the FIFA Best Men’s Player Award this year. It seems more accolades are coming his way as now he has won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award for the second time in his career. Argentina won the Team of the Year award at the ceremony. Follow Football News Updates on InsideSport.IN.
Lionel Messi has been regarded as one of the best footballers in history. In the midst of the numerous awards he has won, the Laureus Award holds close. He received his first Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award back in 2020 jointly with the great racing driver Lewis Hamilton. That year, he became the first-ever footballer to win the prestigious award. He also became the first athlete to have won this award from a team sport. Messi created history this year as he won the award for the second time. Argentina also won the Team of the Year award.
As he accepted the award, Messi said, “I’m very happy to be attending this year – especially as it is in the city where I live. I want to be able to enjoy it. It was a very special moment in Qatar. It was the trophy I was missing. It was special also for my team-mates and the whole country. Football has been a way of life for me. Sport in general unites people with values. I want to thank all my teammates, not only from the national team but also at PSG – I have achieved none of this alone and I am grateful to be able to share everything with them.”
He added, “I want to thank the Laureus Academy – what makes these Awards so special to us as athletes is the fact that they are voted for by these incredible champions, my heroes, and this puts my sporting achievements in true context. This is the first time I have been the sole winner of the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award and after a year when we finally won another prize we had been chasing for a long time, at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, it’s an honour to be able to hold this Laureus Statuette.”
Leo Messi’s dream was to win the World Cup with the Argentina team. He came close several times throughout his career, but could never reach it. Lionel Messi led the Argentina team to the FIFA World Cup final back in 2014, then led them to two Copa America finals in 2015 and 2016, but lost all three times. When he led the team to the FIFA World Cup final once again in 2022, they finally won it. Argentina won the cup after a long wait of 36 years. It was nothing short of a fairy tale ending for the entire Argentina team and Lionel Messi.
The Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award is given after taking all sports around the world into consideration. The previous year was for the Argentina team and Lionel Messi as they fought with all their might and won the World Cup. Accepting the award for himself and the Argentina team, he said, “I was looking at the names of the incredible legends that won the Laureus Sportsman of the Year Award before me: Schumacher, Woods, Nadal, Federer, Bolt, Hamilton, Djokovic… it really sunk in what unbelievable company I’m in and what a unique honour this is.”
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