Lionel Messi and Argentina WC team win Laureus awards

The current world champion Lionel Messi received "the Oscar of Sport" in Paris itself, the epicentre of the novel that has him as the protagonist while there is speculation about his imminent departure from PSG.

Lionel Messi surpassed Rafael Nadal, Kylian Mbappé and Stephen Curry this Monday to win the Laureus Award for the best male athlete of 2022, driven by his performance in the Argentina team, which he led in his consecration as World Champion in Qatar 2022. It is the second time that Messi, 35, has won a Laureus-considered Oscar for Sport, after the one he shared with British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

The Argentine star, who succeeds fellow Dutch pilot Max Verstappen in the list of winners, attended the Pavillon Vendome in the French capital with his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo. The leading goal scorer for Argentina Messi received the award the same day he returned to training for his club, PSG, who had suspended him for a week for missing training on May 1 due to a commitment in Saudi.

"It's the first time I've been at these awards in person (...) I'm very happy to be surrounded by all these phenomena," Messi said when asked questions by the organization of the Award on the red carpet, before receiving the award. Regarding the Argentine team, which was also nominated for one of the Laureus Awards, the 7-time Balon d’Or winner recalled how important it was to win the World Cup in Qatar in December: "It's the dream I've always had since I was little, it was the only trophy I was missing at group level".

The number 10 striker added that winning the WC in Qatar was "something very big" for himself, his teammates and all of Argentina. "We are going to remember it all our lives because it is something historical," Messi stressed. Finally, before entering the ceremony, the Argentine star footballer who was not consulted about the week in which he was away from PSG, added that "sport, in general, unites people and has some very nice values for life" so he encouraged all the children to practice some.