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Messi Named Time's 'Athlete of The Year'

Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)
Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)
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Messi Named Time's 'Athlete of The Year'

Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)
Argentina's forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his team's first goal - his 100th with the national team - during the friendly football match between Argentina and Curacao at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, in northern Argentina, on March 28, 2023. (AFP)

Lionel Messi has been named Time magazine's "Athlete of the Year" for 2023 after a trailblazing season marked by an eighth Ballon d'Or award and his ground-breaking move to Major League Soccer's Inter Miami.

Time said the Argentine superstar had already had a transformative impact on the American sporting landscape, which has been historically slow to embrace football.

"Lionel Messi this year managed to do what once seemed impossible, when he signed with Inter Miami: turning the US into a soccer country," Time commented, AFP reported.

The 36-year-old Messi made his debut for Miami in July following an acrimonious departure from Paris Saint-Germain.

Messi was quoted by Time as saying that his first preference after PSG had been a fairytale return to Barcelona, but that move stalled over the club's finances.

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Nunez Late Double Rescues Win for Liverpool in Premier League

Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
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Nunez Late Double Rescues Win for Liverpool in Premier League

Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
Liverpool's Darwin Nunez greets supporters after winning the English Premier League match between Brentford FC and Liverpool FC, in London, Britain, 18 January 2025. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY

Darwin Nunez scored twice in stoppage time as Liverpool beat Brentford 2-0 to strengthen its spot in first place in the Premier League on Saturday.
Second-placed Arsenal will look to restore the four-point gap to Liverpool by defeating Aston Villa later.
Nunez was derided by Brentford's fans after going on as a substitute in the 65th minute, but the Uruguay striker responded by turning home a cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold in the first minute of added-on time, The Associated Press reported.
Nunez then finished off a counterattack two minutes later and secured a first victory in three league games for Liverpool, which drew with Manchester United and Nottingham Forest either side of a loss to Tottenham in the first leg of the English League Cup semifinals.
Liverpool has still lost only one league game all season, at home to Forest in September. The Reds had 37 shots against Brentford and scored with their final two.
Kluivert's second hat trick Justin Kluivert scored his second hat trick of the season in the league to inspire Bournemouth to 4-1 at Newcastle, whose nine-match winning run in all competitions came to an end emphatically.
The Dutch midfielder netted in the sixth, 44th and second-half stoppage time at St. James' Park. Milos Kerkez added the fourth goal in the sixth minute of added-on time.
Bruno Guimaraes equalized for fourth-placed Newcastle.
Kluivert, whose father is former Netherlands striker Patrick Kluivert, also scored three goals against Wolverhampton in November. In that match, all of Kluivert's goals were penalties, but he scored from open play each time against Newcastle.
Six of Newcastle's nine straight victories came in the league, helping to lift the Saudi-controlled team into the top four in its bid to return to the Champions League.
Newcastle striker Alexander Isak failed to score, having previously netted in eight league games in a row. That left him three games short of Leicester striker Jamie Vardy's record for the longest scoring run in Premier League history.
Bournemouth dominated Newcastle despite being hampered by a long list of injuries. The south coast team extended its unbeaten run to 11 games and climbed to sixth place, tied for points with fifth-placed Chelsea. A fifth-place finish could earn a place in the Champions League next season for the first time.
“Why not dream big?” Kluivert posed. “We never know where we can end up.”
Van Nistelrooy under pressure Next-to-last Leicester lost a seventh straight game in the league, 2-0 to Fulham, to pile the pressure on recently hired manager Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Van Nistelrooy has won only one of his nine league games in charge — the first against West Ham on Dec. 3.
Emile Smith Rowe and Adama Traore scored for Fulham.
Crystal Palace won at West Ham 2-0 thanks to two second-half goals by Jean-Philippe Mateta, the second from the penalty spot.