Argentine prodigy, Lionel Messi delivered a moving speech after he made history as the first ever athlete to win the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year and Laureus World Team of the Year Awards in the same year.
The PSG star won 2023 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, while his national team, Argentina was named the 2023 Laureus World Team of the Year Award.
The Argentina 2022 World Cup winning captain accepted both his award and his team’s award at the award ceremony held in Paris on Monday.
In his acceptance speech, Messi recounted his bitter experience with the Argentine national team despite his club glories.
He said winning the World Cup with Argentina was his biggest dream.
He said, “It is nice to receive recognition of this type, this year I was lucky to fulfill my great dream.
“I went through everything, many joys with Barcelona and many sadness with the national team, but I never stopped”.