At a glittering event in London on Monday, Leo Messi was named FIFA Player of the Year at the 2023 "The Best" awards, leading to a wave of very strong criticism against the World Football Organization. The flea won the World Cup with Argentina more than a year ago at the World Cup in Qatar, but the awards ceremony referred to 2023, which led to anger among world football fans, who were confident that the award would go to Erling Haaland, who led Manchester City to a historic treble last season.
Lionel Messi:
🔝Most Ballon d'Or awards (8)
🔝Most European Golden Shoe awards (6)
🔝Most FIFPRO World 11 appearances (17)
🔝Most FIFA The Best Men's Player awards (3)
🔝Most FIFA World Cup Golden Ball awards (2)
G.O.A.T. for a reason! 🐐 pic.twitter.com/9ys7WUQ1T8
— Sports Brief (@sportsbriefcom) January 16, 2024
While the Norwegian broke records and became the player who scored the most goals in a single season in the Premier League, Messi spent half a season at PSG, with whom he won the French championship and another half season with Inter Miami in the United States, where he won the League Cup, something that shouldn't really give him so many points. Among the critics of the results was Claudio Mari, an Argentine journalist from La Nación newspaper who announced that he ranked Messi third behind Ilkay Gundogan and Haaland. "Messi may be the best in history, but he won from the couch this time," which, of course, made him considered a traitor by fanatical Argentines. Spanish media also expressed strong criticism, with the SS adding: "It's disrespectful to football. You can't believe Messi was the best in the world last year."
Sorpresa: #Messi se lleva el #TheBest 2023. Puede ser el mejor de la historia, pero este lo ganó desde el sofá.
— Claudio Mauri (@hcmauri) January 15, 2024
The big surprise of Messi's win could be seen in the hall where the ceremony was held, when, at the moment of the announcement, Haaland's father and former player Alf-Inge provided a rather gloomy look.
pic.twitter.com/CHnw2RK7o2
— Messi Xtra (@M30Xtra) January 15, 2024
Also criticized were a number of national team captains who ranked Messi first while the list of flea praise included Kylian Mbappe, Granit Xhaka, Mohamed Salah, Edin Dzeko, Romelu Lukaku, Yong Min Son, Virgil van Dijk, as well as Israel captain Elie Dessa, who ranked Haaland second and Mbappe third.
Meanwhile, Messi himself did not attend the ceremony. According to the US media, the reason for this is due to the fact that he is currently preparing together with his teammates for the new MLS season that will begin in March, with Tata Martino's squad already expecting a number of preparatory games, including against El Salvador on Friday and at the beginning of February against Al Nassr and Cristiano Ronaldo, which he wants to arrive physically prepared. A flight to London would have led to Messi missing four training sessions, something he could not afford.
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