Lionel Messi Became the Most Decorated Player in the History of Football

Having won his seventh match for the American team Inter Miami, the 36-year-old Argentine managed to win the 2023 Copa del Rey. The Cup is the player's record 44th trophy.

This information was reported by Sports Illustrated.

This Saturday, the "Inter Miami" team won the League Cup in a post-match penalty shootout against the "Nashville" team. The penalty shootout series lasted for 11 rounds.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring in the match with a lightning strike against the opponent's goal in the 23rd minute of the game. He also scored another goal in the post-match penalty shootout.

The won League Cup added to the numerous trophies of the legendary footballer, including 10 La Liga titles, four Champions League victories, seven Copa del Rey titles, eight Spanish Super Cups, three FIFA Club World Cup championships, three UEFA Super Cups, FIFA World Cup, Copa America, Olympic gold, U20 World Cup, two Ligue 1 titles (France), and one Champions Trophy (Argentina).

Thus, Messi managed to surpass his old friend Dani Alves, who also managed to secure 43 trophies during his football career.

"Leo" was born on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. The older brothers of the future champion taught him to truly love football from a very young age. At the age of 8, Lionel was accepted into the youth system of "Newell's Old Boys" clubs.

Soon, young Leo was diagnosed with a hormonal deficiency that significantly limited his growth, and his family did not have enough money for treatment. Despite this, at the age of 13, Messi was invited to the youth academy of "Barcelona" - "La Masia," and his future team took care of the boy's medical bills.

Messi played for "Barça" for 17 seasons. He first stepped onto the field in the Spanish team's jersey at the age of 16 in 2005. Messi brought fantastic success to Barcelona, especially in 2009 when the team won the Champions League, La Liga, and the Spanish Super Cup. That same year, Messi became FIFA's Player of the Year and received his first "Golden Ball" - the highest European individual award in football.

Throughout his career, Messi never stopped improving, achieving new triumphs.

In 2021, FC Barcelona announced that they couldn't renew the contract with the player due to budget difficulties. After that, Messi bid a heartfelt farewell to Barcelona and moved to PSG, and later to Inter Miami, where he currently plays.