Having left the Catalan club for a long time, Lionel Messi still looks towards his old team. Recently, the Argentine legend gave Barca an extremely valuable souvenir.
Messi won the 2023 Golden Ball at the Football Gala organized by France Football in Paris last October. The Argentine superstar defeated heavyweight candidate Haaland to win this noble individual award.
Messi created something special when he received his 8th Golden Ball while playing for Inter Miami and thanks to his achievement of winning the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, this made him the first player in history. Inter Miami and MLS won the Ballon D’or. Ultimately, however, El Pulga donated this individual award to Barcelona’s museum.
Journalist Miquel Blázquez, a quite reputable person about information surrounding Barcelona, revealed this information. On X, Mr. Miquel Blázquez said: “Leo Messi donated his eighth Golden Ball to the Barca museum, even though he did not win it at the team. Messi wants the 2023 Golden Ball to be displayed along with the previous 7 Golden Balls he won at the Barca museum.”
Before 2023, Messi had received this title in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021. In 2021 alone, El Pulga received the award while wearing the PSG shirt, but his achievements helped him be honored mainly at Barcelona and Argentina national team (Copa America champion).
Messi made the above beautiful action in the context of being criticized for not attending the friendly match between Inter Miami and the Hong Kong Stars Team earlier this month. Therefore, yesterday El Pulga spoke up to reveal the truth that made him unable to play.
On social media, El Pulga said he had muscle inflammation when he arrived in Saudi Arabia, so he endured the pain in the losses to Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr. Because he felt unstable when coming to Hong Kong, the former Barca star asked coach Tata Martino for a break in the match against the Hong Kong Stars.
Currently, Messi and his teammates are preparing for Inter Miami’s opening match at MLS 2024. According to schedule, Inter Miami will welcome Real Salt Lake at 8:00 a.m. February 22.
