EBN- 15 years ago, Lionel Messi beat Andres Iniesta, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award for the first time in his career.
Photographers were swarming around and inside FIFA headquarters before the award ceremony for the best player in the world began, and their focus was on capturing precious images on December 23, 2009, of a young man who was difficult to reach.
Lionel Messi avoided the spotlight as much as he dribbled past his opponents on the pitch.
The “flea” sneaked into the building to receive his award, dressed casually in jeans, a shirt and a jacket, his head bowed.
The photographers had to wait, however, and were convinced that they would get what they were looking for.
Two days before his first FIFA World Player of the Year award, Messi scored the winning goal in extra time, completing a historic sextuple for his then-club Barcelona, as Barça won the Club World Cup, after winning the Spanish King’s Cup, the Spanish League, the Champions League, the Spanish Super Cup, and the European Super Cup.
Messi scored in five of these tournaments.
Messi quickly turned his attention to another event that would start in six months: the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
The 2010 South Africa tournament did not end with the expected glory for the Argentine national team, which was coached by the legend Diego Maradona and led by Messi, but with a crushing 0-4 defeat against Germany.
Twelve years later, in the first World Cup after Maradona’s death, Messi led Argentina to the most prestigious award in football, the 2022 Qatar World Cup, allowing photographers to document historic moments of the cup, and producing some of the most famous images in the history of the tournament.
Once again, the “flea” did not stop at what he achieved, as Messi was chosen as the best player in the world by “FIFA” for the years 2022 and 2023, and was on a shortlist of 11 players for the 2024 award.
Messi led his current team, Inter Miami, to achieve a record number of points during the regular season in the American Professional League, thus qualifying for the Club World Cup, which will be held in the summer of 2025 with the participation of 32 teams.
