There are discordant voices regarding the success of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi in winning the 2021 Ballon d’Or trophy. Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or, the world’s best player, 2021 after winning the votes against his competitors. The star who is now defending Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) received the trophy on the awarding night at the Theater du Chatelet, Paris, France, Monday (29/11/2021).
Messi won the 2021 Ballon d’Or award from a total of 30 nominees. He is 33 points ahead of competitors. After Messi and Lewandowski, the Chelsea and Italy midfielder, Jorginho, completes the top three positions.
In addition, Messi is increasingly establishing himself as the owner of the most Golden Balls in history. Messi has won the Ballon d’Or trophy seven times in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2021. However, not everyone can accept Messi’s success.
The legendary midfielder for the German national team, Lothar Matthaus, was one of the celebrities who expressed his displeasure with the decision of France Football. France Football is the organizer of the Ballon d’Or.
Matthaus thinks Lewandowski deserves to be on the championship podium more than Messi. “To be honest, I don’t understand anymore. With all due respect to Messi and other great players, no one deserves a trophy more than Lewandowski,” said the 1990 Ballon d’Or winner to Sky Germany.
The discordant tone also came from Jean-Pierre Papin. “Leo Messi doesn’t deserve to win this year’s Ballon d’Or,” said the 1991 edition of the World Player of the Year. “Choosing Messi this year would devalue the Golden Ball because it means we no longer give high performing players the possibility to win trophies,” Papin said.
German media, Bild, joined in voicing protests over the election of Messi as the winner of this year’s Ballon d’Or. “Scandal,” their headlines read. Referring to the statistics throughout the 2020-2021 season, Lewandowski did show impressive results. The Bayern Munich striker collected 48 goals from 40 appearances in all competitions.
The achievement of Messi is a total of 31 goals in 44 matches. Even in terms of winning the title, Lewandowski still excels. He won four titles last season, all of which he won with Bayern. Meanwhile, Messi gave Barcelona the Copa del Rey trophy and won the Copa America with the Argentine national team.
