Inter Miami’s genius fully deserves a record eighth Ballon d’Or despite a frustrating 2022/23 season at club level.
“It has been an absolute privilege to watch Lionel Messi for almost 20 years. Moment after moment of fascinating and incredibly joyful football. It’s a gift from the football gods. I am very happy to have raised the maximum prize of our sport. Thank you and congratulations, champion.”
Former Barcelona striker Gary Lineker has always been an outspoken defender of Messi, to the point that some critics have accused him of bias in his reporting as a BBC Sport presenter. But his tribute to the Argentina captain on social media after the World Cup final was spot-on.
It was impossible not to be moved when we saw Messi lift the only trophy in Qatar that had eluded him for so long. He had come within inches of Argentina in the 2014 final and had struggled with the sheer anticipation since his debut as a long-haired teenager nine years earlier on the international stage.
Messi’s majestic performances during his 21-year career at Barcelona earned him seven Ballon d’Ors, along with a host of La Liga and Champions League titles, but there were still those who questioned his fitness for the unofficial title. all-time due to a lack of World Cup titles.
Any lingering doubts were erased once and for all in the 2022 tournament as Messi led his country to glory in the Middle East. Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni was blessed with an exceptional squad, with players like Ángel Di María, Alexis Mac Allister, Enzo Fernández, Cristian Romero and the flamboyant Emi Martínez playing key roles in his triumph.
But it was Messi who inspired them. He performed time and time again when the Albiceleste needed something special to make a breakthrough or finish off an opponent, and he held the team together in the face of adversity.
It was truly impressive to watch him unleash the full scope of his creative talents, and it was a joy to watch him let his guard down and revel in the magnitude of his greatest achievement when it was all over. Messi completed football and was on the verge of winning his eighth Ballon d’Or.
Erling Haaland is rightly involved in the 2023 prize debate after leading Manchester City to the treble in his debut season at the Etihad Stadium, and his case is helped by the fact that Messi fell short of the same success at Paris Saint-Germain. . .
But in terms of individual performance, there was really no comparison between the two men. Messi was again the best player in the world in 2022-2023, as described below GOAL…
Source: Goal