Lionel Messi said winning the Copa America with Argentina might have been the determining factor in him claiming the men’s Ballon d’Or prize for a seventh time after a turbulent year, as Spain’s Alexia Putellas took the women’s award.
Now 34, Messi pipped much-fancied rivals such as Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema to take the award in a glittering ceremony in Paris on Monday, the city he now calls home after leaving boyhood club Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in August.
Despite his tearful goodbye from Barcelona and his relatively underwhelming start to life in France, the jury of journalists from around the world rewarded him in particular for captaining Argentina to their first major international title since 1993.
Photo: Reuters
“Two years ago I thought I was coming into my final years, but here I am again back here,” said Messi, who won the last edition of the Ballon d’Or in 2019 before last year’s awards were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Messi also won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
“People were starting to ask me when I was going to retire, but now I am here in Paris and I am very happy,” he said at the Chatelet Theatre in central Paris, where he was joined by his wife, Antonella Roccuzzo, and their three children.
Photo: AFP
“I don’t know how many more years I have left, but I hope there will be many because I am really enjoying myself this year,” he said. “What I achieved with Argentina was a dream come true. I think I won this trophy thanks to what we did at the Copa America, so I dedicate it to my teammates.”
Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the final in Rio de Janeiro as Messi won a major title with his country for the first time.
He also scored 38 goals in 48 games in his final season with Barcelona and won the Copa del Rey.
However, Messi has played just 11 times and scored four goals for PSG since joining the French club, and there was a feeling that this year might see a different winner.
Poland striker Lewandowski would have been a shoe-in last year, when he scored 45 goals in 37 games for Bayern Munich, only for the awards to be canceled.
He ended last season with a remarkable 41 Bundesliga goals, but had to settle for second place in the voting for the Ballon d’Or, which is organized by France Football magazine and voted for by a panel of journalists from around the world.
Lewandowski instead was given a consolation prize for the year’s best goal-scorer and received glowing praise from Messi.
“I wanted to say to Robert that it was an honor to go up against him. He deserved to win it last year,” Messi said.
Midfielder Jorginho, who won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea and UEFA Euro 2020 with Italy, came third, followed by Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema and another Chelsea player, N’Golo Kante.
Five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo came sixth. He was absent from the ceremony.
Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have won 12 of the last 13 editions of the Ballon d’Or with the exception coming in 2018 when Luka Modric claimed the prize.
This is just the third year that a women’s Ballon d’Or has been awarded, with Putellas following in the footsteps of Norway’s Ada Hegerberg, who won in 2018, and the US’ 2019 World Cup superstar Megan Rapinoe.
Spain international Putellas, 27, captained Barcelona to victory in this year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League, scoring a penalty in the final as her side hammered Chelsea 4-0.
She also won a Spanish league and cup double with Barca, the club she joined as a teenager in 2012 and who are fast becoming the dominant force in the women’s game.
Her Barcelona and Spain teammate Jennifer Hermoso was second, with Sam Kerr of Chelsea and Australia coming in third.
“I am sure I won’t be the last Barcelona player to win the prize. This is just the beginning,” said Putellas, who in August was named player of the year by European soccer’s governing body UEFA.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
RSS