LIONEL MESSI

The Ballon D ‘Or, is an award that highlights the best player in soccer. The ceremony, which is held annually, also features awards such as the Kopa Trophy (given to the best young player), the Yashin trophy (awarded to the best goalkeeper) and the Ballon d’ Or Féminin (awarded to the best female player). The main award, the Ballon D ‘Or is known to be the most prestigious award in soccer and has been won in the past by legends such as George Weah, Johan Cruyff and Kaká. In December of 2019, the annual ceremony for crowning the best player in soccer occurred. The Ballon D’ Or has largely been a competition between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi since 2008. In the 2019 Ballon D’ Or race, Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona beat out several strong competitors such as Virgil Van Dijk of Liverpool, Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus, Sadio Mane of Liverpool and Heung-Min Son from Tottenham. This historic victory makes Messi the first person to ever reach six Ballon D’ Or awards, compared to Ronaldo, who only has received five in his life. Messi has, over the

duration of 2018-2019 and what has been played of this current campaign, scored no less than forty seven goals while also providing nineteen assists in fifty five matches. In terms of silverware, he also won La Liga, the Spanish SuperCopa, the Pichichi for Spain’s top scorer, the golden boot for being Europe’s leading marksman and was the Champions League’s most successful scorer with twelve in total last term. This historic win of a 6th Ballon D‘ Or is the latest edition of Messi’s extensive list of awards and honors. It also helps prove the point that Messi may be in contention for the greatest player of all time, only lacking the World Cup victory in his trophy case. After the ceremony he reminisced about his time. “A few years ago, I received my first Ballon d’Or here in Paris,” he said. “I was 22 years old. It was something unthinkable at the time. Today is my sixth Ballon d’Or. As my wife used to say, you should never stop dreaming but always work to improve and continue to enjoy yourself.”

MESSI MAGIC : 6 BALLON D’ ORS

BEN GONZALEZ, staff writer