The Argentine legend scored twice as Inter Miami beat Columbus Crew 3-2 to win the MLS Supporters' Shield for the first time and is looking for more silverware after leading David Beckham's club to their first trophy since joining the MLS in 2020.

Messi - who has now won 46 trophies in his career - told Apple TV: "I am happy, happy that we did it.

"At the beginning of the year we knew that this was a group to fight for this. We took charge from the beginning, we had the players to do this. I am happy to secure the first objective, and we're thinking of the next."

Miami won the Supporters' Shield as they had the best regular-season record and Messi hopes that the team can make home advantage count in the play-offs that finish with the MLS Cup.

The former Barcelona star said: "We have a nice opportunity to go down in history, and now we think about what is coming.

"We have a great advantage in that we play all the games at home, which was what we were looking for. I think that we are very, very strong at home."

Messi has been absent from a number of games this season due to a combination of injuries and international duty and the player paid tribute to coach Gerardo Martino for the impact he has made since arriving as manager.

He said: "The philosophy was clear: we wanted to keep the ball and attack our opponents that way. Some more important players arrived and we grew beyond just how we played.

"It was our mentality. We had a lot of injuries this season and we couldn’t stay together as a team very often. Even when we were at the Copa America, the team earned positive results against some good teams."