Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi has made history once again, this time with his new club Inter Miami. The player broke another record by becoming the most decorated player in the history of the sport.
The former Barcelona man has won the 44th trophy of his career as Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup final against Nashville FC. He is closely followed by his former teammate, Dani Alves, who has won 42 trophies in his whole career.
The Leagues Cup will be the latest addition to his enormous trophy case. Messi’s collection already includes 10 La Liga titles, four Champions League wins, seven Copa Del Reys, eight Spanish Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, the FIFA World Cup, the Finalissima, the Copa America, an Olympic Gold, a U20 World Cup, two Ligue 1 titles, and one TrophĂ©e de Champions.
Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup for the first time in its history, and this was after the arrival of the Argentine magician. It was Messi who scored the first goal of the match in the 23rd minute. But Nashville SC’s Fafa Picault scored to equalize in the 57th minute.
44 TROPHIES.
Lionel Messi becomes the most decorated footballer of all time 🏆 pic.twitter.com/UIFfrqXce3
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 20, 2023
The match then went into penalties and, later, into sudden death. In the end, Messi’s Miami won the match with a scoreline of 9-10. The player has made a great impact on the club from the very beginning of his new journey. He has already scored 10 goals in seven games for the MLS side.
The World Cup 2022 winner joined David Beckham’s Inter Miami after he decided to leave Paris Saint-Germain. Although he previously mentioned that he would like to stay in Europe. But it seems he changed his mind and moved to the west.
Lionel Messi claims MLS can compete against European leagues
The MLS new boy, Lionel Messi, has claimed that the MLS is equal and can compete against the top European leagues. The player has been a legend of the sport and has spent all of his professional career with European clubs.
According to ESPN, in a recent interview, Messi was questioned about the quality of soccer in the MLS and whether it was equal to the sport he experienced in Europe. To this, he replied, “I think it has every opportunity to do so. That growth depends a lot on the league. It’s an ideal moment to grow. There are important competitions upcoming that will be played in this country [2024 Copa America, 2026 FIFA World Cup].”
The player continued, “It’s time for the league to make that leap and finish growing, finish looking for what it’s been seeking for a while. Everything is in place here to witness top-level football because of the country, the structure, a bunch of things. I think that soccer in the U.S. has grown a lot in this last year.”
The player also praised the performance of the USMNT in the World Cup last year, saying he found them to be very competitive and growing. Messi mentioned that he feels that US soccer is growing to the level of Mexican soccer.
In the end, Inter Miami’s new No. 10 also talked about the level of competition in the Leagues Cup. He said that the competition showed the rise in the quality of soccer that the US has to offer. The player felt it was on the same level as that of any European League. He mentioned that while people might say many things, all the matches of the tournament were very competitive, with almost every team having equal chances of winning a match, and he said that he felt that MLS would also be the same.
Messi has been an integral part of Miami’s rise so far this season. The club won their first Leagues Cup today after defeating Nashville SC in the finals. It is to be seen in the future if Messi is right about MLS’s growth or if they are really capable of competing with the European Leagues.