Germany’s football icon Lothar Matthaus has blasted Lionel Messi after he won FIFA The Best Award. Messi’s recent coronation as the best footballer of the year by FIFA has attracted the rage of several footballers and icon, including the likes of Matthaus. In an interview with Sky Sports Deutschland, Matthaus said, “If you don’t take into account the World Cup, which made Messi the winner of the Ballon d’Or, Messi must not be the winner this time”. In the same interview, he did acknowledge that Messi was the best footballer from the last two decades but this time he simply did not do anything with his teams to deserve the award. “With Paris and Miami…he hasn’t won any major titles,” Matthaus said.
Lothar Matthaus added that Manchester City star Erling Haaland should have won the ultimate prize in London over Lionel Messi. “If you look at the great successes, there is no way past Manchester City and – when choosing the best player – Erling Haaland,” Matthaus said. The German legend believes that Haaland won the most important titles in Europe last season while putting up an impressive tally of goals. He further said, “He [Haaland] won the most important titles with Man City, his scoring rate was impressive.”
This isn’t the first time Lothar Matthaus has gone after Lionel Messi for winning an award. In 2023, the former footballer had publicly criticised France Football for awarding Messi his eighth Ballon d’Or. He believed that the Argentine’s World Cup win just wasn’t as impressive as Haaland winning the Treble with Manchester City.
While Argentina’s third crown was a factor in the Ballon d’Or votes, it had nothing to do with this season’s FIFA The Best ceremony. According to the award criteria, the evaluation period for FIFA The Best awards began after Argentina’s victory over France in Doha 2022. Messi had already won the FIFA award in 2023 for winning the World Cup in Qatar.
Lionel Messi might not have won anything with Argentina this football season but he did manage to bag a Ligue 1 title with Paris Saint-Germain. He later won the MLS Leagues Cup with Inter Miami after his blockbuster move to the United States. Whereas, Erling Haaland finished the season with the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League. He also finished as the league’s record top goalscorer with 36 goals. His spoils were enough to earn him a tie in total votes for the award but Messi eventually won the tiebreak, emerging as the world’s best as per FIFA.
Comments
0 comment