Messi's favorite goal, a header for Barcelona in 2009 Champions League final, to become work of art

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 — one that sealed Barcelona's 2009 Champions League final 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.

“I’ve scored many goals that might have been even more beautiful and valuable — also because of their importance — but the header in the Champions League final against Manchester United has always been my favorite,” Messi said.

Messi had plenty of options to choose from: He’s 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’s 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 “suggest this one-of-a-kind work has all the makings of a record-breaking sale.”

“Leo Messi’s goal is more than a defining moment in sport — it is a complex expression of human intent, memory, and motion," Anadol said. “By integrating biosensing technologies and advanced AI systems trained on data from that singular event, we are exploring a new frontier in AI art — one in which data becomes emotion, and memory becomes form.”

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 Hernández came down the right side of the field and lofted a chip into the penalty box. Messi — not known for headers — 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.

“I already knew how special Refik Anadol’s work is, and after we had the chance to meet in Miami, it’s going to be exciting to see how he can transform a goal — a moment in sports — into a unique piece of art, like the ones he creates,” Messi said.

Proceeds from the sale will benefit multiple nonprofits, the team said, including the Inter Miami CF Foundation’s global partnership with UNICEF.

AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccer

FILE - Barcelona's Lionel Messi shows his shoe as he reacts after scoring his side second goal, during the UEFA Champions League final soccer match between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome, May 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

FILE - Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his sides second goal during the UEFA Champions League final soccer match between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome, May 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)

FILE - Barcelona's Lionel Messi, left, scores on a header during the UEFA Champions League final soccer match between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome, May 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Barcelona's Lionel Messi, left, scores on a header during the UEFA Champions League final soccer match between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome, May 27, 2009. Barcelona won 2-0. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

FILE - Barcelona's Lionel Messi, left, scores on a header during the UEFA Champions League final soccer match between Manchester United and Barcelona in Rome, May 27, 2009. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)