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Topics: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, MLS, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain
Josh Lawless
Topics: Lionel Messi, Inter Miami, MLS, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain
Lionel Messi won a 44th major honour after guiding Inter Miami to a Leagues Cup win on Saturday night.
The Argentine genius opened the scoring in the final with a typically exquisite strike against Nashville, taking his tally to 10 goals in seven games in the tournament.
The clash went all the way to penalties following Fafa Picault's equaliser and Gerardo Martino's side prevailed after goalkeeper Drake Callender saved from opposite number Elliot Panicco.
It was a first trophy for David Beckham's side, who will look to use the triumph as a springboard to move away from the bottom of the MLS Eastern Conference.
Messi is now the most decorated player in history after winning 44 trophies in nearly two decades, yet he was more than happy to allow previous Inter captain DeAndre Yedlin to lift the cup.
The World Cup and Copa America wins with Argentina in recent years saw Messi well and truly complete football but there is one bit of silverware which has evaded him.
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Of all the trophies available to him, Messi has only failed to win the Coupe De France. He won back to back Ligue One titles in his rather underwhelming spell with Paris Saint-Germain but the team did not fare well in the knockout cup competition.
Prior to Messi' arrival, the team had won the cup in six out of the seven previous seasons.
But they lost to Nice on penalties in the semi-finals in his first campaign when Mauricio Pochettino was at the helm, before rivals Marseille beat Christophe Galtier's side 2-1 in the round of 16 in February.
Given recent comments about PSG, it's very unlikely that Messi will ever play in the France again.
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His haul of 44 trophies is made up of 35 with Barcelona, five with Argentina, three with PSG and one with Inter Miami.
Individually, Messi has won the lot but he has never won the 'Golden Foot', a prestigious prize which has been handed out for 20 years.
Previous winners include Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho and the rules stipulate that players have to be over 28 and can only win the award once.