For the second time in his career, Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has won the golden boot.
The 25-year-old soccer star earned his second golden boot by setting a Spanish league record with 50 goals. Messi’s closest competitor, Cristiano Ronaldo, had 46 goals for Real Madrid.
Messi dedicated the individual award to the hard work of his teammates, saying:
“It is a prize for scoring goals, but without my teammates I couldn’t have scored them … I share this award with them as I always do.”
Messi said that he was honored to win the award but his real goal is to win the Champions League.
Messi said:
“I don’t fight for individual awards, I fight for titles. My goals are reclaiming the league crown, winning the Copa del Rey and the winning the Champions League again. Those are my goals, team goals.”
Messi broke the Spanish league record for goals this year but it isn’t the only record that Messi owns. According to USA Today , Messi scored 73 goals in all competition last year, breaking a European club record. He also tallied his 232 career goal in March and became Barcelona’s all-time leading scorer.
The star soccer player is also just a few goals away from breaking one of Pele’s records which has stood since 1958. If Messi scores two more goals, he will tie Pele’s feat of scoring 75 goals in a single year.
Messi said that the individual awards were great but reiterated that his goal is to win titles.
Messi added:
“Obviously, it’s an honor to be close to the numbers of a person who is so important to football. But, again, they are only statistics. My goal is to win as many titles as I can before the end of my career. I have always been like that. Then I can look back at what I have won and take stock of my career.”
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