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Argentina and Lyon defender Nicolas Tagliafico has sent a hilarious congratulatory message to national teammate Lionel Messi following the latter's The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023 victory.
Messi won the prestigious individual award ahead of Manchester City hitman Erling Haaland (second) and France superstar Kylian Mbappe (third). This was the Argentine's fourth FIFA Best Men's Player award, having won the same in 2009, 2019 and 2022 previously.
Congratulating Messi for winning the trophy, Tagliafico took to his social media handles and posted:
"I'm tired, boss. Congratulations once again, Leo."
Tagliafico, who was part of Argentina's 2022 World Cup-winning squad, was obviously referring to the hordes of individual and team accolades that Messi has accumulated during his storied career.
The Inter Miami forward has won the Ballon d'Or a record eight times, on top of four The Best FIFA awards, and has also been named as UEFA Best Player in Europe on three different occasions. He was also named FIFA World Cup's best player in both the 2014 and 2022 editions.
On top of all that, he has won four UEFA Champions League and 12 league titles during his club career, among other trophies.
Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel defends Lionel Messi's The Best FIFA 2023 win
With Lionel Messi being named The Best FIFA Men's Player 2023, many questioned whether the Argentine deserved the award. Some fans pointed to Haaland's exploits with Manchester City, who won a historic treble.
Moreover, performances between December 19, 2022, to August 20, 2023, were taken into account, a day after Messi led Argentina to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
However, John Obi Mikel thought the former Barcelona man was the right choice for the award. When asked by Sky Sports if the Argentine deserved the award, he replied:
"I think he did. I understand that Haaland is a great player, he plays for Manchester City. Man City is a team that creates chances, they win games. He hasn't played for what, nine games, 10 games? What are they doing? They've lost one in nine or one in ten. They create chances, they score goals, they know how to win games without Haaland."
Interestingly, Messi and Haaland finished with identical scoring points after the voting process. But the former was picked as the winner because more national team captains voted for him as compared to the Norwegian.
