Messi named MLS MVP

Lionel Messi added one more distinction to his incomparable list of honors: Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the MLS in 2024.

Winner of eight Ballon d'Ors, Messi won 38.43% of the vote to beat Colombian Juan Camilo "Cucho" Hernández (33.70%) in an award that only considers regular-season performances, AFP reports.

The Argentine captain received the trophy Wednesday night at a surprise event at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale (outside Miami), where more than 250 Inter academy players, including his three sons, greeted him by lining up on the field to form the letters MVP.

"It is an honor for me to receive this award from all of you," Messi thanked the children, as seen in a video released by Inter Miami. "It's a pride to see you train. I am very happy to be in this city, in this club that is growing and I invite you to keep fighting and fighting for your dreams," added the reigning World Cup champion.

This year, in his first full season in the United States, the former Barcelona star dazzled with 20 goals and 16 assists in just 19 games, propelling Inter to the top of the regular season for the first time.

Messi, whose contract expires at the end of the 2025 season, has advanced his plan to retire at Inter, where they want to convince him to remain in their ranks until at least 2026, when the United States will co-host the World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada.

Fifth Argentine MVP

At 37 years of age, the Rosario-born star adds this MVP to a showcase in which, in addition to the record of Ballon d'Ors, other great individual awards shine such as the best player in two World Cups (2014 and 2022), two Copa Americas (2015 and 2021) and six Golden Boot titles.

This year, Messi was just three goals behind the top scorer, Belgian Christian Benteke (DC United), who played 11 more games, and again filled stadiums across the United States with crowds of up to 72,000.

Messi succeeds his compatriot Luciano Acosta (FC Cincinnati) in the MVP honors and is the first to do so in the uniform of Inter, a 5-year-old MLS franchise. He is also the fifth Argentine to win the trophy after Acosta, Diego Valeri (2017), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (2008) and Christian Gomez (2006).

A year of glory... and disappointment

Messi's move to Miami, later joined by other old Barcelona glories such as Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, drew the soccer spotlight to MLS and completely transformed Inter, the franchise co-owned by David Beckham.

Last year Messi revived a team mired in the MLS doldrums to its first Leagues Cup title.

This year's campaign started promisingly, but the team fell by the wayside: Miami's superstar squad failed to make it out of the MLS playoffs. He was also called to the Club World Cup after finishing first in the MLS standings and winning the Supporters' Shield, but without being crowned the league's best. His successful campaign was cut short by Atlanta United in the first round of the playoffs.

Midway through the campaign, Messi had to stop for two months due to an ankle injury suffered in the Copa America final he won with Argentina.

Cucho takes second place

The Colombian striker shone with 19 goals and 14 assists that earned him second place in the MVP voting, which was conducted by a panel of journalists, players and club technical staff.