EUROPEAN SPOTLIGHT
BALLON D'OR OR
BALLON D'OH? ‘WHILE MESSI DID LEAD ARGENTINA TO A COPA AMERICA TITLE, HIS CLUB WORK WASN’T AT ITS BEST’
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he Ballon d’Or has once again been decided and once again not everyone agrees with the decision. In what has become an annual event of second-guessing, the Ballon d’Or is once again mired in controversy over who is the top player in the world on the men’s side with Lionel Messi defeating Robert Lewandowski. On the women’s side,
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SOCCER360 JANUARY • FEBRUARY 2022
ABOVE (MAIN): Lionel Messi with his seventh Ballon d'Or ABOVE LEFT TOP: For years, it was Ronaldo, Messi and a third, in the title race. ABOVE LEFT, SECOND FROM THE TOP: After winning the Euro, and the Champions League, there was no surprise that Jorginho was third LEFT: Ronaldo did not finish in the top three of the Ballon D'or race
Alexia Putellas won top honors with Jennifer Hermoso placing second. Of the two awards, the controversy seems to be coming from the men’s side. While Messi did lead Argentina to a Copa America title, his club work wasn’t at its best. Despite scoring 30 goals for Barcelona, the side finished third in La Liga and didn’t make it out of the Round of 16. Lewandowski scored 41 goals for Bayern Munich helping the side win the Bundesliga. With Poland, he scored 11 goals in 12 matches, including three goals in the EURO 2020 competition. The point of contention as to why Lewandowski should finish ahead of Messi partially comes from their season statistics, but it also seems to have its roots in the previous
