{"id":32082,"date":"2023-12-06T08:35:05","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T08:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/lionel-messi-named-times-athlete-of-the-year-for-2023\/"},"modified":"2023-12-06T08:35:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T08:35:05","slug":"lionel-messi-named-times-athlete-of-the-year-for-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/lionel-messi-named-times-athlete-of-the-year-for-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Lionel Messi named Time\u2019s Athlete of the Year for 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

Argentina captain Lionel Messi has been named Time<\/em> magazine\u2019s Athlete of the Year for 2023 after winning the Ballon d\u2019Or for a record-extending eighth time and elevating the profile of the sport in the US with his move to Inter Miami.<\/p>\n

Messi played a key role in guiding Argentina to their first World Cup title in 36 years when they beat defending<\/a> champions France in the final in December last year.<\/p>\n

The 36-year-old had no shortage of offers when he left Paris St Germain earlier this year, choosing to sign for Major League Soccer\u2019s Inter Miami despite being linked with his former team Barcelona and a big-money<\/a> move to Saudi side Al-Hilal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is that fortunately, I had several options on the table that were interesting, and I had to analyse them and think, even weigh them up with my family, before making the final decision to come to Miami,\u201d Messi told Time<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Messi made an instant impact at Miami, scoring 10 goals in seven Leagues Cup appearances as he spurred them to victory in the tournament which features MLS teams as well as sides from Mexico.<\/p>\n

The Argentine\u2019s arrival in the US also made waves off the pitch, causing a massive spike in searches for match dates and tickets to see him in action, with fans also buying up his official pink Inter Miami shirt.<\/p>\n

The price of tickets to Inter Miami games skyrocketed, while Apple TV, which has a 10-year partnership with the MLS, saw a significant increase in subscriptions, according to research firm Antenna.<\/p>\n

\u201cMessi managed to do what once seemed impossible: turning the US into a soccer country,\u201d Time<\/em> wrote.<\/p>\n

Simone Biles, LeBron James and the United States women\u2019s soccer team have won the award in recent years, with Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees winning in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Argentina captain Lionel Messi has been named Time magazine\u2019s Athlete of the Year for 2023 after winning the Ballon d\u2019Or for a record-extending eighth time and elevating the profile of the sport in the US with his move to Inter Miami. Messi played a key role in guiding Argentina to their first World Cup title […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32083,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/12\/06132735bf0a496.jpg?r=132826","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t