As the first male soccer player to win TIME’s Athlete of the Year award, Lionel Messi has made history.
Since its founding in 1927, TIME Magazine has named a Person of the Year. Past recipients of the honor include Mark Zuckerberg, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Pope John XXIII, Barack Obama, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
However, the Athlete of the Year award from the publication dates back to just 2019.
Shortly after players like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan had brought home their country’s fourth Women’s World Cup championship, the USWNT won it collectively for the first time.
The award has also been given to baseball player Aaron Judge, gymnastics great Simone Biles, and NBA legend LeBron James.
352 days have passed since Messi led Argentina to victory at the 2022 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar.
The 36-year-old then transferred from Paris Saint-Germain to Inter Miami in July, where he made an immediate impression as one of the greatest icons in American sports history by scoring on his debut from a breathtaking last-minute free kick.
His move to America, however, was almost not a game-changer.
Messi acknowledged in a TIME interview that his first preference after leaving PSG had been to return to Barcelona, despite receiving a substantially higher transfer fee to play for a team in the Pro League of Saudi Arabia.
“The truth is that fortunately, I had several options on the table that were interesting, and I had to analyze them and think, even weigh them up with my family, before making the final decision to come to Miami,” Messi explained.
“My first option was to return to Barcelona, but it was not possible. I tried to return, and it did not happen.”
Inter Miami captain Lionel Messi is TIME’s 2023 Athlete of the Year
IMAGO/Icon Sportswire/David Jensen
He added: “It is also true that later I was thinking a lot about going to the Saudi league, where I know the country and they have created a very powerful competition that can become an important league in the near future.
“As the country’s tourism ambassador, it was a destination that attracted me, especially because I’ve enjoyed everything I have visited, because of how football is growing in the country and because of the effort they are putting into creating a top competition.
“It was Saudi Arabia or MLS, and both options seemed very interesting to me.”
Despite only having played in 14 games for Miami, Messi has already scored 11 goals and provided five assists. He has also helped the team win its first-ever trophy by turning in numerous spectacular performances during the club’s victorious 2023 Leagues Cup campaign.
Messi was voted the best male player in world soccer for a record-breaking eighth time, and as a result, he was awarded the Ballon d’Or in October.