Lionel Messi and Neymar will not be among the top 30 players at the next Ballon d’Or. They were devastated by their bad season at PSG, but that decision shook Spain.
France Football revealed this week that it has published 30 Ballon d’Or nominees. Usually, this list doesn’t cause much fanfare, as there are the greatest players on the planet, and it’s this final ranking that generates more salty reactions, all discussion about standards or players’ merits. But in this list of 30 finalists, some notable absences should be highlighted due to the lack of Neymar nor Lionel Messi. It is very rare to see the defending champion disappear from the top 30 in this way and not be presented to the voters, who are journalists from 180 different countries.
And in neighboring Spain, the absence of Lionel Messi, who still lifts this trophy 7 times, sparked a very lively debate on the occasion of the El Chiringuito programme. The idea was obviously to see if the Argentine deserved to be among the finalists. For one columnist, Diego Plaza, no debate is likely. ” The Golden Ball is not awarded for your past or career, but for what you have done during the season. And Messi was bad, very bad. Messi scored 12 in a team that crushed everything in France, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored 25 in a disastrous aspect. Compared to the journalist, the Portuguese deserves his place in the finalists.
Ballon d’Or 2010 Messi does not pass!
A letter prompting clarification from famous host Josep Pedrol, who never saw things this way. ” Messi was very good. I was pissed when I saw he wasn’t on the shortlist. I find that brutally disrespectful and I think France Football now regrets it. If I’m a member of the jury that votes for the Ballon d’Or and Messi isn’t there, I quit. I quit and come back later ”, Slipidol, who announced his departure from the show if Sergio Ramos and Messi leave Real Madrid and Barcelona, and if Mbappe does not sign in Madrid.
Argentina’s primary goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, explains that when Messi speaks, everyone shuts up and listens.
“When he starts talking, everyone is silent. Whoever the manager is … the president of Argentina. They are all silent.”
leader. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/lB2xruyqRV
– Planet Foot (@LaPlaneteFoot_) August 20 2022
A touch of humor elicited plenty of laughs, even if it didn’t stop Josep Pedrol with a massive interference from Paco Puyo, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper and columnist on the show. ” Yes, you love Messi and you voted for him in 2010 instead of giving it to Iniesta, Xavi or Schneider who deserved it so much more than him. He fired the ex-guard, clearly upsetting his interlocutor, who retaliated by cutting him off for sending the announcement. Proof that Messi’s profile remains sensitive in Spain, and that the Ballon d’Or still speaks as much as it does.
