ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: LIONEL MESSI

MESSI WON THE BALLON D'OR AS THE WORLD'S BEST PLAYER FOR THE EIGHTH TIME IN OCTOBER

- SEAN GREGORY & JULIA ZORTHIAN

THAT THIS MOMENT UNFOLDED, ON JULY 21, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale still feels surreal. Lionel Messi, in his first game wearing a pink Inter Miami jersey, was awarded a free kick in the final seconds of his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut. Here was the greatest living soccer player, arguably the best to ever play the world's most popular game, who last year led Argentina to its first World Cup win in nearly four decades, suiting up for a last-place club in the U.S.

Before the kick, Inter Miami defender DeAndre Yedlin, who played in that same World Cup for the U.S., went to the sideline with a cramp in his right calf. He cautioned his coach, Gerardo "Tata" Martino, against selecting him to take a penalty kick after regulation inevitably ended in a 1-1 draw between Inter Miami and Cruz Azul at the Leagues Cup, a tournament featuring teams from MLS and Mexico's Liga MX. Martino, who was familiar with Messi's magic from managing him for Argentina and FC Barcelona, told Yedlin not to worry: Messi was going to put this shot in the back of the net and end the game. "I was like, OK," says Yedlin, not at all convinced.