Lionel Messi Receives Third Golden Shoe, Messi Named as Europe’s Top Scorer with 46 Goals

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has been awarded his third Golden Shoe on Wednesday.

The Golden Shoe award is presented to the top scorer in the league. Messi has finished the season with 46 goals. Messi first won the award for the 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 seasons when he scored 39 and 50 goals, respectively. He is currently the only player to have won the award for three times. Bulgarian superstar Hristo Stoichkov was the one who handed Messi the Golden Shoe. His teammates Carles Puyol and Cesc Fabregas were spotted during the ceremony.

"I would like to dedicate this award to my family, to the people who are there in the toughest times, and my teammates," said Messi upon accepting the award. "I want to thank because if not for them, I would have not achieved anything," he added. "This award is a prize for the squad," said Messi.

Messi is currently not playing because of his hamstring injury that he got during the Barcelona match over Real Betis on Nov 10. He is expected to be out for a total of eight weeks. His torn hamstring is his fourth injury in 2013.

Concerning his comeback, Messi is taking it one step at a time. "I am better, and I am improving little by little," Messi said. "I am starting to do little things, and I am almost without pain," he added.

Messi fans will probably see him back in action in 2014, though it is really not clear when he will be able to play again. "If everything goes well, it will be the date to return, but we will see how the recovery goes," said Messi. "It is not my goal to win a fourth shoe, I have to make my body stronger so that I can play calm and with no injury," he concluded.

While recuperating from injury, Messi is expected to film a series of commercial ads for Samsung.