Lionel Messi admitted winning the Copa America with
Argentina might have been the determining factor in him claiming the men’s
Ballon d’Or prize for the seventh time after a turbulent year, as Spain’s
Alexia Putellas took the women’s award.
Now 34, Messi pipped much-fancied rivals like Robert
Lewandowski and Karim Benzema to take the award in a glittering ceremony on
Monday in Paris, the city he now calls home after leaving boyhood club
Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in August.
Messi explained that Lewandowski deserved to win the award
last year.
Despite his tearful goodbye from Barcelona and his
relatively underwhelming start to life in France, the jury of journalists from
around the world rewarded him in particular for captaining Argentina to their
first major international title since 1993.
“Two years ago I thought I was coming into my final years
but here I am again back here,” said Messi, who won the last edition of the
Ballon d’Or in 2019 before last year’s awards were cancelled due to the
pandemic.
Messi also won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and in 2015.
“People were starting to ask me when I was going to retire
but now I am here in Paris and I am very happy,” he said at the Chatelet
Theatre in central Paris, where he was joined by his wife Antonella Roccuzzo
and their three children.
“I don’t know how many more years I have left but I hope
there will be many because I am really enjoying myself this year.
“What I achieved with Argentina was a dream come true. I
think I won this trophy thanks to what we did at the Copa America, so I
dedicate it to my teammates.”
Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the final in Rio de Janeiro as Messi won a major title with his country for the first time. He also scored 38 goals in 48 games in his final season with Barcelona and won the Copa del Rey.
Poland striker Lewandowski would have been a shoe-in in
2020, when he scored 45 goals in 37 games for Bayern, only for the awards to be
cancelled.
Lewandowski instead was given a consolation prize for the
year’s best goal-scorer and received glowing praise from Messi.
“I wanted to say to Robert that it was an honour to go up
against him. He deserved to win it last year,” Messi said.
Midfielder Jorginho, who won the Champions League with
Chelsea and Euro 2020 with Italy, came third, followed by Real Madrid’s Karim
Benzema and another Chelsea player, N’Golo Kante.
Five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo came sixth. He was absent
from the ceremony.
Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have won 12 of the last 13
editions of the Ballon d’Or with the exception coming in 2018 when Luka Modric
claimed the prize.
AFP
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