News / Sports

Messi awarded 2015 ESPY for Best International Athlete

Saturday, 18 July 2015 12:57 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 18 July 2015 1:08 PM ]

Barcelona's Lionel Messi skips over a challenge from Juventus' Arturo Vidal during the Champions League final soccer match between Juventus Turin and FC Barcelona at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany, on June 6, 2015. (© AP)

Professional footballer Lionel Messi, who plays for Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team as a forward, has beaten a host of international sports super-stars to win the 2015 ESPY Award for Best International Athlete.

During a gala held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, the 28-year-old Argentine trumped world’s top-ranked Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, the reigning Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, 17-year-old South Korean golf prodigy Lydia Ko and highly-acclaimed Portugal and Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo for the award.

Messi collected three trophies for Catalan giants Barcelona, winning the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system, La Liga, Copa del Rey, which is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams, as well as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League this season.

Messi scored a total of 58 goals and had 23 assists in 51 appearances with Barcelona during the 2014/15 season.

The ESPY Award for Best International Athlete is presented annually by the American sports media giant ESPN to the best non-American player to honor their sporting achievements. Messi previously won the award in 2012.

The award came on the same day as UEFA announced that Messi joined two other Barcelona stars, Brazil's Neymar and Uruguay's Luis Suarez, as well as Ronaldo, Eden Hazard of Chelsea and five Juventus players for the 2014-15 Best Player in Europe award.

The three finalists will be named on August 12, with the winner to be announced by a jury vote at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on August 28.

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