Home Football ‘Inspiring the next generation 💫 ‘ – Lionel Messi pays a visit to Inter Miami’s future stars, proudly displaying his new Ballon d’Or title to academy players before posing for photos

‘Inspiring the next generation 💫 ‘ – Lionel Messi pays a visit to Inter Miami’s future stars, proudly displaying his new Ballon d’Or title to academy players before posing for photos

Football — 11/03/2023

Lionel Messi, the Inter Miami superstar, returned to the team faculty on Thursday and presented his newest Ballon d’Or award to the younger academy players.

The academy in Miami shared a video of Messi talking with children while posing for group photos with the team and the trophy.

The 36-year-old recently won his eighth Ballon d’Or, beating out Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.The video, which was released on X, shows him taking the trophy into one of the buildings at Miami’s practice facilities before being greeted by the waiting youth players.

Messi then exchanged handshakes and embraces with one group of players before taking a group shot with them and then repeated the process with a younger group.

Lionel Messi showed off the Ballon d'Or award to the youth academy teams at Inter Miami+2View gallery

Lionel Messi showed off the Ballon d’Or award to the youth academy teams at Inter Miami

Messi recently won his eighth Ballon d'Or trophy, beating Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe

He was then joined on the field by both groups of players and their coaches for photographs.

Messi received the Ballon d’Or from Miami president and co-owner David Beckham after defeating Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Kevin de Bruyne to earn his eighth title.

Argentina’s claim to the Ballon d’Or stems from his heroics at the World Cup last December, when he scored seven goals to lead his team to a historic victory. Shortly after, he signed a record-breaking contract with Miami to leave Paris Saint-Germain.

Despite missing the MLS playoffs, Messi’s impact was immediate, with Miami sitting at the bottom of the league prior to his arrival. After winning the first Leagues Cup in August, he led the team to its first club trophy within two months. 

Miami lost to the Houston Dynamo in the US Open Cup final in September. 

Due to injury and international obligations, Messi only appeared in six games during the MLS regular season. He had a goal and two assists in those games.

Messi and his Miami teammates had been preparing for a short trip to China, which would have included two friendly, but the journey was abruptly canceled owing to unforeseen circumstances.

The tour promoter, NSN, stated that the cancellation was made out of respect for Chinese officials following the death of the country’s former second-ranking leader, Li Keqiang, last week. For a decade, he was China’s top economic official.