Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or in the male player category at the Ballon d’Or Awards held in Paris, France on the 29th (local time). Paris = Associated Press
Lionel Messi (34, Paris Saint-Germain) won the 7th Ballon d’Or and rewrote his personal record for the most in his career. ‘Rival’ Cristiano Ronaldo (5 times, Manchester United) widened the gap with 2 times, building a monumental tower that will not collapse for the time being.
Messi was honored with the men’s award at the 2021 Ballon d’Or awards held at the Theater du Châtelet in Paris, France on the 30th (Korean time). In the vote of the reporters from each country, he scored 613 points, beating Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), who received 580 points, by 33 points.
Messi said, “When I won the award two years ago, I thought it was the last, but I am very surprised to be standing here again. said
This year, Messi led Argentina to victory in the Copa America, swept the title of top scorer, assist and MVP in the tournament. It was his first victory with the Argentine national team. Messi said, “This year was a special year. It was a meaningful victory, and I was happy that many Argentine fans congratulated me.” He continued, “I’ve had a long career, but I don’t know when my best year will be.”
He scored 27 goals only in the second half of the 2020-21 season when he was with Barcelona and saved Barcelona from a crisis by leading the Copa del Rey (Kingdom’s Cup) championship. After moving to Paris Saint-Germain, he showed signs of not being able to adapt to the team, but recently he has been raising his pace again.
On this day, Messi succeeded in winning seven personal awards (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021), increasing his record of winning the most awards by one more time. It is also the second consecutive loss after winning the award in 2019. The awards ceremony was not held last year due to the aftermath of COVID-19.
Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo (left) protests after being cautioned by the referee during a match against Chelsea in Round 13 of the English Premier League during the 2021-22 season at Stamford Bridge Stadium in London, England, on the 28th (local time). London = AP News
Ronaldo, who shared the Ballon d’Or from 2008 to 14 years (excluding 2018) and built a rivalry, did not attend the awards ceremony. Ronaldo’s team and his home country Portugal are performing below expectations this year. After joining Ronaldo, United fell to 8th place in the English Premier League (EPL). Portugal failed to advance to the finals as they finished second in the group stage of the 2022 Qatar World Cup European qualifiers. They have to defeat Italy in the European qualifying playoffs to advance to the finals. As if reflecting this sluggishness, Ronaldo only finished sixth in the press vote this time.
Ronaldo has expressed his discomfort after Messi’s award. “Ronaldo’s only career ambition is to win more Ballon d’Ors than Messi,” said Pascal Ferret, editor of France Football, the organizer of the Ballon d’Or. “He lied. He sold my name to promote the event,” Ronaldo said on social media. ” he was angry. “My biggest ambition is to have my team and national team win a title,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lewandowski, who had a close encounter with Messi, was selected as the new ‘Striker of the Year’ this year. In the women’s category, Alexia Putellas (Spain), who led the Barcelona women’s team to the treble in the 2020-21 season, was selected. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), who led Italy to Euro 2020 victory last summer and became the MVP, won the Yashin Award given to the best goalkeeper. The Copa Award, given to the best player under the age of 21, went to Spain’s Holy Pedrí (Barcelona).
Dongsoon Choi reporter dosool@hankookilbo.com
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