Lionel Messi created history when he won his eighth Ballon d’Or trophy in Paris last month. The Argentine had won the World Cup with his nation in 2022, which ultimately edged him to win the prestigious award.
While Messi may have won, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe were also good competitors, finishing second and third respectively. Both had good arguments to win the award as well, but fell short. And it seems some voters for the award did not believe Messi should even be in the running.
Lionel Messi overlooked by six countries in Ballon d’Or poll
Despite having such a good year with great statistics and performances, some believed that Messi should not even be considered a competitor for the Ballon d’Or award. And not just someone, but some of the renowned journalists of the sport thought that.
The Ballon d’Or is based on votes, with players, coaches and journalists voting on it. It is the votes of the journalists that count the most as it ultimately decides the winner. Journalists are chosen from the top 100 FIFA ranked nations in the world for men and top 50 FIFA ranked nations in the world for women.
Each of them are given five options to choose as the Ballon d’Or winner, with the top spot worth six points, 4 points for second, 3 points for third, 2 points for fourth, and a single point for 5th. So, ultimately even just being in the five places is important to win the trophy.
There was no doubt that Messi would be a top debate for winning the award, but six journalists thought that he had no merit to win it. They are the ones from Cameroon, Jordan, Salvador, Guinea and Cape Verde. It is quite surprising and shocking that the journalists from these nations thought Lionel Messi should not even be in the top five spots.
Bojan Krkic warns against following Messi’s example
Lionel Messi is obviously an inspiration for future and present athletes. His talent, humble approach, and determination are admirable traits that any coach would want in their players. Many young superstars were compared to the Argentine, but no one has managed to reach his heights.
Many La Masia talents are often compared to Messi, but eventually fail to do achieve anything close to him. One of the earliest ones was Bojan Krkic, who had made his debut at just 17 for the Catalan club. But eventually, he failed to live up to the high expectations on him and just retired earlier this year.
Now, he has been appointed as the club’s overseer of young talents, to make sure the same thing that happened to him doesn’t happen to them. Recently, he spoke in a documentary as to why young players should not strive to be like Lionel Messi.
He said that young players cannot be compared to top established athletes like Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, “Neither Messi nor Cristiano [Ronaldo] nor Rafa Nadal are ordinary cases, they cannot be the example for young people. They are extraordinary. Success is not that, it is only going to happen to them.”
According to Bojan, they should not be rushed into the team, as Barcelona has done so with many players recently. Lamine Yamal is a recent example and he is continuously compared with Messi.
Clearly Bojan knows that Lionel Messi is in a league of his own and that there will neve be another player like him. What do you think about whether Messi deserved the Ballon d’Or award or not? Do you think Messi should be compared to young athletes? Let us know your opinions in the comments down below!
