During the Ballon d’Or award ceremony, superstar Lionel Messi emerged as the winner and expressed his gratitude to everyone.
Early morning on October 31st, Lionel Messi received his eighth Ballon d’Or award of his career. Kylian Mbappe came in third place in the top five nominees, while Man City had three representatives with Erling Haaland coming in second place, Kevin de Bruyne in fourth place, and Rodri in fifth place.
Messi expressed his gratitude towards the legendary Diego Maradona and the members of the Argentinian National Team for this honor. He shared about the great pride he felt and sent his warm wishes to Maradona on his birthday, stating that wherever he may be, this achievement is dedicated to him.
This is also an achievement for the entire Argentine team, and I would like to express my gratitude to all of the players, coaching staff, and people of Argentina. I am very proud that I did not give up. Winning the World Cup is the only title that I have yet to achieve in my career.
Lionel Messi recently discussed Erling Haaland, a player who also had an incredible season with a treble win for Man City. According to Messi, he believes that Haaland absolutely deserves his success due to his Premier League and Champions League victories, as well as being the top scorer in multiple tournaments. Messi stated that Haaland could have easily been awarded the title today, and he is confident that Haaland will achieve it next year.
Speaking about FC Barcelona: “The club is my life, there’s no doubt that they are a strong contender for the Champions League this season. I always follow Barcelona, the team I love and played for my entire career. With a mix of young talent and experienced players, they will bounce back from their loss in El Clasico. Barcelona has everything they need to win the Champions League, but they should not put too much pressure on themselves.”
When asked about celebrating their title at the Prince’s Park stadium, the athlete responded with a relaxed tone, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Parisians wouldn’t want me to win the Ballon d’Or. I’ll celebrate this with my teammates and the people of Argentina.”
I decided not to continue staying in Paris for various reasons, but I always look back on my time there with positivity. I was very happy in Paris, and my children also loved the city. They wanted to stay in France, go to school and play with their friends there. Although things didn’t quite turn out the way I hoped in terms of sports, I still have fond memories of Paris.