Lionel Messi has revealed his favorite goal, and it wasn’t one of the hundreds he has scored with his legendary left foot.
It was a header 鈥 one that sealed Barcelona’s win over Manchester United.
The Inter Miami star, World Cup champion for Argentina and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner made the announcement on Thursday, saying that goal from 16 years ago stands above the many he has logged for club and country over his unparalleled career.
鈥淚鈥檝e scored many goals that might have been even more beautiful and valuable 鈥 also because of their importance 鈥 but the header in the Champions League final against Manchester United has always been my favorite,鈥 Messi said.
Messi had plenty of options to choose from: He鈥檚 scored more than 800 goals for Argentina, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami.
The reason that he picked one to stand out is for charity. A depiction of that goal is being turned into a work of art, one that will be auctioned off to raise money for various causes. Messi and the artist, Refik Anadol, will both sign the art piece, which will be unveiled by auction house Christie鈥檚 on June 11.
There will be a public exhibition period, along with an auction from July 15-22. A statement from Inter Miami on Thursday said that people within Christie’s 鈥渟uggest this one-of-a-kind work has all the makings of a record-breaking sale.鈥
鈥淟eo Messi鈥檚 goal is more than a defining moment in sport 鈥 it is a complex expression of human intent, memory, and motion,” Anadol said. 鈥淏y integrating biosensing technologies and advanced AI systems trained on data from that singular event, we are exploring a new frontier in AI art 鈥 one in which data becomes emotion, and memory becomes form.鈥
The goal put Barcelona up 2-0 in the 70th minute, and that was the final score of the match. It was like few others in Messi’s career.
Barcelona’s Xavi Hern谩ndez came down the right side of the field and lofted a chip into the penalty box. Messi 鈥 not known for headers 鈥 leaped to reach the ball that was estimated to be nearly 9 feet (2.70 meters) in the air, redirecting it with his head past Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van de Sar.
Messi tumbled to the ground, losing one of his cleats in the process. He picked up the shoe and took off in celebration.
鈥淚 already knew how special Refik Anadol鈥檚 work is, and after we had the chance to meet in Miami, it鈥檚 going to be exciting to see how he can transform a goal 鈥 a moment in sports 鈥 into a unique piece of art, like the ones he creates,鈥 Messi said.
Proceeds from the sale will benefit multiple nonprofits, the team said, including the Inter Miami CF Foundation鈥檚 global partnership with UNICEF.
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