Hegemony and the debate: how much each Ballon d’Or has cost Messi

Eight times Leo. Moving away from the human and getting closer and closer to the divine, the Argentine star won his eighth Ballon d’Or at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. A recognition that elevates him even further to the golden Olympus in the history of the beautiful sport. A legacy of legend that catapults him into the most infinite eternity and dissociates him from any mortal. His football, a museum piece. Like a work of art at its maximum splendor in which the numbers are frank and irreverent in equal measure. Insatiable, with a hunger for glory and a perpetual left hand, Messi extended his personal record of laurels and collected a new trophy for best footballer of the year. As unique as it is unrepeatable, the one from Rosario took over from Karim Benzema and added a new award that will end up establishing him as the best of all time. Nobody has as many as him.

Along with Cristiano Ronaldo, the Argentine and Portuguese have been protagonists in the last decade of one of the greatest rivalries in history. A desire to improve that reached utopian levels and was reflected, among other things, in the fight to win individual awards. Now, in that battle to win a greater number of Ballon d’Ors, Messi has opened the gap with his eighth award, while the one from Madeira has five in his showcases. But if football par excellence generates something, it is controversy. And, of the eight that the ’10’ has under his belt, even in two of them, without taking into account the current one, the criterion has been under suspicion. Specifically, those that the Argentine achieved in 2010 and 2021.

13 years ago there was one of the most controversial Ballon d’Or awards in history, which generated a greater contradictory public response. When all the predictions pointed to Andrés Iniesta or Xavi Hernández as winners, the one from Rosario won his second award. “I didn’t expect to win it today,” Messi himself confessed. In that year, Spain won its only World Cup thanks in part to the two Barça midfielders who wonderfully embodied that exquisiteness of touch football. Finally, the one from Fuentealbilla was second in the vote, and the one from Terrassa was third. The commotion over a certain outcome was such that ‘France Football’, the French magazine that presented the award, ended up apologizing to Iniesta eight years later. in what they defined as a “democratic anomaly.”

Another recognition not without controversy was in 2021 when Messi won his seventh award despite all eyes pointing to Robert Lewandowski. “He is owed one,” summarized the French magazine at the time after, in 2020, ‘France Football’ left the award void due to the pandemic. He was not the only one, since even the Argentine himself recognized that the Polish forward was deserving of said award the previous year. “I would like Messi to be sincere, not to be empty words,” revealed Lewandowski. about the confession of Rosario.

The rest of the awards admit little or no controversy. At 22 years old, the man from Rosario began his legacy and won the first of his four consecutive Ballon d’Or awards in 2009. The beginning of everything. The next two, without dispute. His scoring records, as crystalline as they are ostensible, achieving unimaginable records on the face of the Earth and turning the extraordinary into routine. Already in 2015 and, after losing his throne, the king returned in a big way: 41.33% of the votes and his fifth Ballon d’Or in his pocket. All insufficient for an insatiable Messi. Thus, four years later, ’10’ expanded his legend with the sixth recognition of him and, now, ‘La Pulga’ culminated his great work with the eighth wonder of the world. An example of majesty made in the image and likeness. Number one in this chapter of history, although there will always be achievements that are disputed.