Football award
Matthew on eighth Ballon d’Or for Messi: choice a farce
Record national player Lothar Matthäus criticizes the awarding of the Ballon d’Or. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
Lionel Messi is awarded the Ballon d’Or again. Germany’s record international player Lothar Matthäus doesn’t like that. Someone else should have won, he thinks.
Lothar Matthäus has the eighth award of soccer world champion Lionel Messi winning the prestigious Ballon d’Or described as a “farce”. Instead, second-placed Erling Haaland should have won. “Over the whole of last year, Haaland performed better than Messi. It is undeserved that Messi won,” said Matthäus on Sky. “For me there is no way around Haaland. The choice is a farce, even though I am a Messi fan.”
The 36-year-old Argentine received the honor for last season in Paris and won in the vote ahead of striker Haaland from Manchester City and Kylian Mbappé from Paris Saint-Germain. Messi’s re-election shows “that a World Cup counts more than anything else. For me, Haaland is the best player of the last twelve months, who has won important titles with Manchester City (Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup) and is there broke goal records,” said Matthäus, who was voted World Player of the Year in 1990.
Messi led the Albiceleste to the World Cup title in a thrilling final against France in Qatar last December, but was often unable to convince during the season at Paris Saint-Germain. In the summer he moved to Inter Miami in the USA.
Norway’s top striker Haaland from the English treble winner was rewarded with the Gerd Müller Trophy for the best goalscorer for the first time in Paris thanks to 56 goals. The 23-year-old was named Europe’s Footballer of the Year in August, beating Messi.