“The best in history,” Fans celebrate as Lionel Messi bags his 77th individual award after winning 2022 FIFA the Best award
Messi wins the FIFA player of the year on the back of his World Cup win in 2022
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Argentine legend Lionel Messi equals arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the list of Best FIFA Football Men’s Player after winning his third trophy on Tuesday. In its seven iterations, Messi wins the award for the second time.
The World Cup 2022 winner saw off competitions from his teammate in Paris Saint Germain, Kylian Mbappe and defending Ballon D’or winner Karim Benzema. Last year, it was Robert Lewandowski who won the award for the second time as well, making Messi share the pedestal with the Polish great.
Messi had an incredible start to the new season in 2022 and looked to be ready to represent Argentina in the impending FIFA World Cup. Messi arrived at the world cup in Qatar and his performance galvanised the Argentine team to perform out of their skin.
Messi wins the 2022 FIFA World Cup
La Pulga racked up seven goals and three assists, in just seven games in the quadrennial competition to lead his team to their first World Cup victory since 1986. In the finals, Messi faced a steep challenge from France as it was Kylian Mbappe who scored a hattrick to push the game to a penalty shootout. Messi also won the Golden Ball in the tournament.
Messi’s triumph was seen as poetic justice to his fans as this was largely believed to be his final appearance on the biggest stage of football at 35. Even in 2014, a younger Messi carried his team till the final where they were beaten by Joachim Lowe’s Germany.
After leaving Barcelona in the wake of the club’s financial mismanagement, Messi joined PSG. But his first season showed a rare anomaly of the maestro not even scoring 10 goals. This led a section of followers to believe whether his performance in the world cup would match the expectations. But since the very first match of the 22/23 season, Messi has silenced all his doubters. Till now, Messi has 12 goals and 12 assists in 20 games, a more Messi-esque number.
After winning the World Cup, the head coach of Argentina, another Lionel, Lionel Scaloni said Messi might play another World Cup, elating the fans.
In case you have missed: Watch: Sir Alex Ferguson congratulates Erik Ten Hag after he led Manchester United to their first trophy in six years
Lionel Scaloni win the BEST coach award
Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni won the coach of the year award. The 44-year-old won the award on the back of his World Cup victory.
He saw off competition from the likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola, two coaching behemoths in their own right. Ancelotti delivered a La Liga and UEFA Champions League double while Pep Guardiola led the Manchester City juggernaut to yet another Premier League glory.
It was also recently reported that Scaloni will be the coach for La Albiceleste till 2026. The former Sevilla assistant coach has been an inspirational figure to the players.
Emiliano Martinez wins BEST Goalkeeper Award
Aston Villa and Argentina Goalkeeper completed the Argentine trifecta in the Best FIFA Football Awards 2022. He won the Best Goalkeeper award as his second medal this year coupled with the Golden Globe in the World Cup.
The former Arsenal man was in outrageous form in the WC 2022 making four saves in shootouts. This is the most by any player in a world cup, held jointly by Croatia’s Danijel Subasic and Dominik Livakovic, Argentina’s Sergio Goycochea and Germany’s Harald Schumacher.
Fans React to Messi’s win
As one of the most celebrated players of all time, Messi’s win was shared by millions of football lovers around the globe. While most of the fans thought that the award was just a confirmation of the fact that Messi is the best player, some Cristiano Ronaldo fans called the World Cup a rigged tournament for Messi. Either way, every fan had something or the other to say.
PSG would be hoping to see Messi in the same winning mood for the rest of the season as they would face Bayern Munich on March 9 in the Champions League. PSG lost their home match to the Bavarian giants in the first leg and will have to overturn the previous results if they have to gun for their maiden Champions League with Messi in the side.
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Arpan Ghosh
(1403 Articles Published)