Lionel Messi held the Ballon d’Or above his head as fireworks ended a ceremony before the game. That meant that Inter Miami could honor the best player in the game one more time in 2023.

Messi played in a friendly against New York City FC on Friday night for his Major League Soccer team. The game was held to honor his eighth Ballon d’Or win, which is given every year to the best player in the game. He won it at a black-tie event in Paris last month. That award has only been won five times by one other player.

With the trophy in his left hand, Messi walked to the middle on a gold carpet that had been laid out across the field. MLS Commissioner Don Garber was waiting for him for a short ceremony before the game. He hugged Garber Jorge and Jose Mas, owners of Inter Miami, and then raised the prize as the crowd cheered.

The Barcelona player said, “To me, it’s something beautiful to share with you.” “It feels like I’ve been here for a long time even though I’ve only been here for a short time.”

This shows how important the event was: Even Garber took out his phone to record the event.

Garber told the Super Bowl fans, “You have the best player who has ever played the game.” He won his eighth Ballon d’Or and was captain when your team won the League Cup. Thank you, Leo, for believing in Major League Soccer and making your club and league a top choice.

The game wasn’t really important; NYCFC won 2-1, and Messi had a 25-yard free kick in extra time that could have tied the game, but it went high, and the game was over.

It was the right way to end Messi’s first four months with the club: Year 1 began with a party on the field, and Year 2 began with another party with a look ahead to Year 2.

Gael Monreal, the coach of Inter Miami, said, “He’s the star of this game, and we want to join him in celebrating his eighth Ballon d’Or.” “It gives us a chance to compete too.” It’s a chance for people and fans to see Leo and his friends play and say goodbye to the year, even if it’s just a friendly.

It was an extra chance to say goodbye, at least at home. Messi didn’t play that night because he had just returned from two World Cup matches with Argentina. Inter Miami’s home schedule was over three weeks ago.

This month, Inter Miami was meant to play two games in China, but that trip was canceled because of “unforeseen circumstances,” according to the team. When that didn’t work out, Inter Miami came up with another plan: they asked NYCFC to play a practice game between teams that weren’t in the MLS playoffs at the time. In the last two weeks, Messi has trained with the team most of the time. He got to the team building the morning after winning the Ballon d’Or in Paris.

“I want to thank everyone in Miami for how they have treated me and my family over the last few months,” Messi said. “That includes everyone here at the stadium and everyone in the city in general.” “You love me a lot and made me feel at home.”

Messi hadn’t played since October 21, when Inter Miami played their last MLS game. He’ll probably play at least twice more in 2023 when Argentina plays Uruguay in Buenos Aires for a World Cup qualifying game and Brazil in Rio de Janeiro for a World Cup qualifying game.

The team will probably start training for the 2024 season in January. The MLS regular season might start in late February. Inter Miami won the Leagues Cup, their first title ever, soon after Messi joined the team this summer, so they will have a busy year. In 2024, the club will play in, among other things, the MLS season, the U.S. Open Cup, and the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Messi said, “As I said at the start, I had no doubt that we were going to have fun and enjoy it.” “I’m sure that next year will be much better today.” We’re going to keep having fun. We’re going to keep winning titles.”

There was a question this week about what still drives Messi to play. He said that the best answer would be how against-the-clock Messi works out.

He said, “You wouldn’t even have to ask the question if you saw those.” “You’d understand right away.”

“GOAT” stands for “Greatest Of All Time,” and people argue about who is the best in many sports. There is Michael Jordan or LeBron James in basketball. Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus are golf stars. In men’s tennis, you can watch Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Novak Djokovic. It’s hard to fight against Simone Biles in gymnastics, Michael Phelps in men’s swimming, and Katie Ledecky in women’s swimming, even if you take into account recency bias.

There may still be an argument about soccer. But Messi’s eight Ballon d’Or wins make the case stronger.

“I believe it’s over,” said Inter Miami forward Benjamin Cremaschi, who is 18 years old and wasn’t even 2 months old when Messi scored his first goal for Barcelona in 2005. At the time, Messi had a baby face and shaggy hair, but now he has a beard and short hair. “For 18 years, he’s shown that.” I believe he is the world’s and all-time’s best player. I don’t think many people would disagree. It’s clearly a bit slanted, but I haven’t seen anyone better yet.”