The talk of Lionel Messi and his World Cup triumph with Argentina is still spreading like wildfire after almost two weeks when the South Americans won the breathtaking final in Doha. Argentina were made to suffer throughout the 120 minutes of a game which produced a number of heroic performances. One from Lionel Messi, another from his teammate Emi Martinez and of course, France’s Kylian Mbappe wasn’t going to miss the party.
The ‘La Pulga’, as they call Lionel Messi in Argentina also became the first player to win the Golden Ball for the best player of the tournament twice in his career, after collecting it for the second time in Qatar with the first one coming in Brazil 2014. He is now being tipped to another individual honor, the Ballon d’Or, with Croatian footballer Ana Markovic, dubbed as the ‘world’s most beautiful footballer’ backing him to the award.
Lionel Messi and Barca lady backed to collect the prestigious Ballon d’Or by Markovic
Lionel Messi capped-off his 2022 with the World Cup triumph in Qatar, as he was adjudged the best player at the tournament as well with a staggering 7 goals and 3 assists to his name, and mesmerising displays in almost every game. He came clutch in the final as well, netting two of Argentina’s three goals and proving to be a menace for the French defense.
However, it was his PSG compatriot Mbappe who threatened Messi’s dream of winning the only trophy missing from his cabinet, by dragging the final all the way to the penalties. A brilliant hat-trick from the France forward helped his team recover from the deficit not once, but thrice. However, he was let down by his teammates Kingsley Coman and Aurelien Tchouameni who fell to Argentina shot-stopper Emiliano Martinez’s antics during the shootout to miss their spot-kicks.
On the other hand, Messi’s Argentina scored all of their chances enroute to dethroning France as the World Champions. With another trophy added to his collection, Messi is once again being tipped to swoop in the prestigious Ballon d’Or next year, which could be his record extending eighth win of the award. Relaying the backing, Croatia Women’s team member Ana Markovic, who is also complimented as the ‘world’s most beautiful footballer’ to tipped Lionel Messi, and Barcelona Femeni’s Alexia Putellas to lift the Ballon d’Or next year in a Twitter QnA.
While Messi has previously won the award on a stunning seven occasions in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and most recently in 2021, Alexia Putellas has been crowned the Ballon d’Or Féminin for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022, making her the only women’s player to do so. Both the players absolutely are favourites to go for glory again, having being enjoyed brilliant seasons so far.
Messi too has had remarkable start to his second season in Paris, having netted an impressive 11 goals and provided 14 assists in 18 games in all competitions. And with another 18 goals and 6 assists in 14 games for Argentina in 2022 alongside the World Cup triumph, Messi now just needs a trophy or two with PSG to make his case the strongest to raise his eighth Ballon d’Or next year.