Lionel Messi has done it again! The star
forward has bagged the 2019 Ballon d’Or award for the record sixth time. The FC
Barcelona player was crowned the best player in the world for the first time in
the last 4 years, in a star-studded ceremony held in Paris recently.
There was a lot of money riding on the
probable winners of this award, and Messi beat a very strong competition from
the kinds of Virgil Van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to bag the top honours.
There was a growing buzz everywhere that the Argentine would indeed win the
football’s highest individual accolade. A good number of well-known football prediction
portals had also backed the famous
footballer to win it this time around. SPORT and Mundo Deportivo, the two main
Catalonian newspapers had column inches filled with claims of the captain
having done enough to please the Ballon d’Or jury.
Mundo Deportivo had already broken the news
The jury for the award comprises of 176
respected journalist from world over. However, Mundo Deportivo had in
particular highlighted that France Football, the popular magazine which
established the award before joining hands with FIFA in 2010, was already
present in Barcelona and had conducted a photoshoot and interview with the
Argentine.
It was in 2009 that Messi’s dominance on
the Ballon d’Or award started. He claimed it thrice back-to-back under Pep
Guardiola, and went on to win it the record 4th time straight, only
to be interrupted by Cristiano Ronaldo thereafter. Ronaldo won it twice
back-to-back before Messi made it again in 2015.
With Ronaldo playing a significant part in
Los Blancos’ victory of the Champions League in 2016, making them the first
team ever to win it twice, in 2017, he won it again and tied with Messi. This
time around, Ronaldo chose not to be present to see Messi win it over him yet
again. The Juventus striker is now 34 years old and is showing signs of winding
down.
Messi had a number of achievements to show for the award
On the other hand, Van Dijk had helped
Liverpool win the Champions League this time around, edging Barca by scoring an
epic
4-3 (aggregate) semi-final victory at Anfield
on
their way. However, Messi scored a total of 47 goals in the 2018-19 and also
assisted 19 in 55 matches.
Talking about the silverware, the Argentine
won the Spanish Super Copa, La Liga, Golden Boot for being the leading goal
scorer in Europe, Pichichi for being the top scorer in Spain and the award for
being the most prolific scorer in Champions League.
Graciously accepting the Ballon d’Or
trophy, Messi said, “I would like to thank all the journalists to have voted
for me, who wanted me to win this prize. Thank you so much to my colleagues
from the club, and all my colleagues who have contributed a lot for this prize.
It's really amazing.” He further added: “I am aware of how old I am and these
moments are much more enjoyable because the moment of withdrawal [from the
game] is approaching, and it is difficult. Time flies and increasingly passes
faster.”