Lionel Messi apologised for scoring a goal in a final, it sums him up

Lionel Messi once apologised for scoring a goal in a final, showing what a humble person he is despite his greatness.

Both goals in the World Cup final against France at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar were wildly celebrated by the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner.

And he's also been extremely animated after strikes in the final of the Champions League, which he has won four times in his career.

But in 2015, Messi provided an extremely muted celebration. He starred for Luis Enrique's Barcelona in a 3-0 FIFA Club World Cup final win.

It was against River Plate from his native Argentina in Yokohama and incredibly, Messi was gifted a Toyota Prius for winning the Man of the Match award.

The Barcelona legend opened the scoring in the 36th minute, with Luis Suarez bagging a second-half brace.

Image: Getty

But when Messi found the net, he refused to celebrate out of respect for the River fans who had made the journey.

16,000 fans of them were in attendance and Messi felt bad for "ruining" their experience.

"I know how much effort all those fans made in making that trip and how excited they were," he said in a post-match interview with FIFA, via Sport.

"And there was me, the Argentinian, scoring the first goal and ruining it all for them.

"I don't know if I was actually saying sorry, but it was a type of apology."

Image: Getty

One might have thought that Messi would have enjoyed scoring even more as he is a Newell's Old Boys fan and spent his early days playing for his hometown club.

According to Miguel Martínez, a former press officer for the Rosario Football Association, Messi scored an insane 234 goals in 176 games between the ages of six and 12.

He then went on to move to Barcelona, joining the La Masia academy in a decision changed the course of history.

According to reports, Messi is set to face his boyhood club in an emotional friendly fixture in February when Inter Miami host the Argentine outfit.