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Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi
Photo: Christophe Ena / AP
Robert Lewandowski applauded politely - but the huge disappointment of the 33-year-old exceptional striker in the "Theater du Chatelet" in Paris was clearly noticeable.
It was not Bayern Munich's favorite striker who received the prestigious Ballon d'Or award on Monday evening, despite an unbelievable record season with 41 goals, but - once again - the Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.
The Bundesliga top scorer had to be content with second place in the election carried out by the French specialist newspaper »France Football«. Messi, who led Argentina to win the Copa America for the first time in 28 years, received the Golden Ball for the seventh time in his career and addressed words of encouragement to his rival: “It's an honor to be here with you. You broke records and deserved to win the Ballon d'Or. «Lewandowski was still allowed to go on stage and was honored in a newly introduced award as the best goalscorer of the year, which was more of a consolation prize.
From the perspective of the Bundesliga, it was not the only disappointments of the evening that only placed one other player in the top 30 in BVB striker Erling Haaland (eleventh place). National goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was in fifth place against Italy's European goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the »Trophée Yachine« named after the former Russian goalkeeper Lev Jashin. Dortmund's Jude Bellingham and young national player Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich) had to settle for second and third place in the final selection for the “Trophée Kopa” for the best young player, with the Spaniard Pedri from FC Barcelona winning. There was no German soccer player among the women, the Golden Ball was awarded to the Spaniard Alexia Putellas.
The who's who of the football world was there in Paris. The greatest attention naturally went to Messi, who was accompanied by his wife Antonella as well as by his three sons - all in identical glitter suits. Bayern boss Oliver Kahn, coach Julian Nagelsmann and sports director Hasan Salihamidzic also insisted on supporting their goal scorer on site.
However, the sixth-placed Cristiano Ronaldo was missing, who raged from a distance against the co-organizer of the election. "Pascal Ferré lied, he used my name to advertise himself and the newspaper he works for," wrote Ronaldo on Instagram. He responded to statements by the editor-in-chief of France Football, who had claimed that Ronaldo's greatest goal was to end his career with more gold balls than his constant rival Messi.
The Ballon d'Or is not a substitute for the world footballer's choice.
This election will continue to be organized by the world association FIFA, the freestyle will take place on January 17, 2022. Lewandowski was chosen as a world footballer for the first time in 2020.
The Ballon d'Or, on the other hand, was not awarded last year due to the corona pandemic.
From 2010 to 2015, the world footballer was awarded the Golden Ball through a cooperation between FIFA and France Football.
jso / sid / dpa
