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| MLS and Inter Miami hold a lavish ceremony to award Messi |
Compared to the 2023 MLS Player of the Year Luciano Acosta, who received his award in the club’s locker room, with a few people witnessing it and congratulating him, what MLS did for Messi was much more spectacular.
Messi was given an awards ceremony at Inter Miami’s home stadium with hundreds of people in attendance. The head of the MLS organization personally appeared to present the award to him.
Young players from the Inter Miami academy formed an MVP line to congratulate the 37-year-old superstar. Not stopping there, Messi was also praised by MLS commissioner Don Garber, who compared him to “the Taylor Swift or Michael Jackson of American football”.
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| Luciano Acosta humbly accepts 2023 MLS Player of the Year award |
Messi is the deserving 2024 MLS Player of the Year. Despite his early exit in the playoffs, he was still the player with the most goals in the last campaign with 39 goals, including 21 goals and 18 assists. He averaged 2.18 goals per game – an MLS record.
Meanwhile, the second-placed player, Cucho Hernandez, only had 33 goals with 19 goals and 14 assists. Thanks to his extensive professional influence, Messi received 38.43% of the votes from the votes of players, media and club executives in MLS.
However, Messi only had 5% more votes than the runner-up, not much different from the 2023 title winner. Last year, Luciano Acosta received more than 60% of the votes, 5 times more than the runner-up.
