This season may not be a good one for ace Argentine striker Lionel Messi, but last year, his counting of league goals was the highest in Europe, hence he wins his third Golden Shoe trophy for his excellent performance in 2012-13. This would be an achievement for Barcelona star as he has recently been widespread criticized for not able to attain his fitness. This is the second consecutive year he won this prestigious award: his first one was for 2009-10 when he netted 34 goals and then in 2011-12 for a 50 goals haul. Last season, he netted 46 goals more than anyone else in the Europe and helped Barcelona win La Liga trophy back from Real Madrid. Like his many other achievements, he again became the only player to win three Golden Shoe trophies. It was the perfect time for news hungry media personnel to fire a chain of questions on him, including how much time he would be needed to come back on the field. Notably, he is out at the moment for his hamstring injury and recently he also informed not to return in a hurry leaving his fans in suspense about when they would see him back in action.
Like any other legendry, he also dedicated this award to his family and well-wishers and said, “I dedicate this award to my family, to the people who are there in the toughest times, and
my team-mates. I want to thank them because without them I wouldn’t have achieved anything. It’s a prize for the squad.”
If we compare his current form to that of last year’s, he started this season with a descent show, but his injuries led him down; no one would believe he is the same man who played for years without any fitness problem. When sked about his recovery period, he replied, “I’m better, improving little by little, I’m nearly without any pain and starting to do little things. I haven’t put a return date, if everything goes well this will be the date to return, but we’ll see how the recovery goes. It will happen when it has to happen.”
However when questioned if he would also win the fourth one, he answered, “It’s not my objective to win a fourth. It wasn’t even when I was fit, much less now. I have to strengthen my body so that nothing else happens, so that I can play with calm and without injury.”