Football Special Report: Nomination For FIFA Ballon d’Or- Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi, the Argentinean maestro, is the current holder of FIFA World Player of the Year and France Football Ballon d’Or awards. This year, as both these awards have been combined into one single award, Lionel Messi makes it into the list once again.
If Messi makes it into the top three, which is almost definite, it would be his fourth consecutive top three finishes.
Lionel Messi had a very brilliant last season with Barcelona, as the Catalan giants continued their good form by winning Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. In 2008-2009 Season, Pep Guardiola’s men won a famous treble, so the Catalans
completed their cabinet by winning all six trophies in the 2009 year. Lionel Messi, once again, had a very important role to play in it. He was the top scorer for his team in all competitions, which made him a favourite to win the awards for the year 2009.
Barcelona’s last season was not what the fans and critics had expected. With the domination showed by the Catalans in 2008-2009, everyone expected them to sweep all the tournaments in 2010 as well. However, the Catalans faced tough resistance in Spain, as
well as in Europe. In the Champions League, Inter Milan cut short Barcelona’s dream to win back to back titles. Also, in Copa Del Ray, it was Sevilla who were able to counter the charge of Catalan giants. In the end, Barcelona could only manage a La Liga title,
which is a clear understatement of the quality they had in their squad.
Although, Messi was recognized as the best player in the world when Barcelona won their treble, however, last season of Messi was better than his any of the previous performances. In 2008-2009, Messi scored 23 goals in La Liga, while he was not even the
top scorer for his club. Last season, Messi came up with an incredible 34 goals in the league, with 10 assists as well. Lionel Messi was in sublime goal-scoring form, as he equalized the record in Spanish La Liga previously set by Brazilian Ronaldo. The Argentinean
striker scored many incredible goals throughout the season, but his best performance was a four goal tally against Arsenal, in Champions League knock-out stage.
However, despite being the best last season, Messi was unable to convert his good form into victories for his club. But, there was nothing wrong on the Argentinean’s part, as he did absolutely everything in his power to win for his team. On the contrary,
Barcelona lacked quality on other parts of the field, which resulted in their inability to defend their titles. In the treble winning season, Lionel Messi was joined by Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry, as the incredible trio shared almost 100 goals among each
other. Apart from these players, Xavi had a lot of say in the victories, as he made assists for many goals for Barcelona.
On the other hand, last season saw Messi pairing up with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Pedro for the most part. But, none of these players were able to repeat the performances of their predecessors. Due to this, Barcelona relied heavily on Lionel Messi as they
went on looking for goals. That is why the Argentinean scored a lot of goals, but it was still not enough in the end.
Despite his incredible achievements last season, Lionel Messi might not win this year’s award, although it looked certain at one point. The FIFA World Cup would have a lot of say in the award, but Messi does not have good memories of South Africa. Argentina
crashed out in easy fashion, in the Quarter Finals, while Messi came up with no goals for his team. In an otherwise incredible last year, World Cup is something that Messi would like to forget.
Stranger things have happened in the past, so Messi remains a strong contender for the award. There is no doubt that he would make it into the last three, and even if he wins it, no one would be surprised.
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