Ballon d'Or 2023: Messi's glorious legacy
Lionel Messi demonstrated his power and influence on world football through his 8th Golden Ball award in his career.
At 36, Leo deserves a happy ending in the chain of Argentina, Diego Maradona and the World Cup. A dream ending to an extraordinary career that shows no signs of stopping.
Messi is football
Julian Marias (1914-2005), Spanish philosopher, writer, professor and essayist, once wrote, “Football is a weekly return to childhood.” It’s a sentiment that’s hard to deny. Today, Lionel Messi periodically takes us back to that dreamy, magical state. Even if he scores the same goal a thousand times, it always seems like a new invention. As long as Messi keeps getting the ball, the goal will come.
At 36, Messi has just won his 8th Ballon d'Or. A feat, even though the voting is always controversial. That in 2010 it should have been Xavi or Iniesta, World Cup winners with Spain. Many also thought 2019 should have been Virgil van Dijk, the best defender in the world at the time and Champions League winner with Liverpool. That in 2021 Robert Lewandowski deserved the honor for his goals for Bayern Munich. All these years belong to Messi, who is recognized by the majority of sports journalists around the world.
Some wondered if the difference in this year's vote was because Messi won a trophy with Inter Miami. In fact, the three months in which he changed the history of Inter Miami and raised the level of American soccer were not part of the evaluation of the 100 journalists invited by France Football to vote. The voting process focused on the previous season, from June 2022 to June 2023. During this period, a gem came to Messi: the 2022 World Cup. The additive was the Ligue 1 title with PSG, but it did not have much impact. It was perhaps the achievement that brought him the least joy in his career, because the French capital became the only place on the planet that he despised, receiving so much criticism that Neymar described "we lived in hell".
Looking back, Messi's career has been nothing short of incredible. "La Pulga" won his first Ballon d'Or in 2009, at the age of 22, starting a record four consecutive wins. Of the Top 10 that year, seven have retired. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are still quietly vying for the all-time top goalscorer title. The other is Andres Iniesta, Messi's passionate former teammate in Pep Guardiola's version of Barcelona - one of the best teams in history.
World Cup Launch Pad
Winning the Ballon d'Or at the age of 35 is unusual. There has only been one older winner, the first time France Football awarded the award in 1956: Stanley Matthews was 41. The record-breaking youngest winner is Ronaldo de Lima, who won at 21 in 1997.
The Golden Ball in Qatar, where he was also named the tournament's best player, paved the way for Messi's return to Paris on October 30. For the first time since Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, the Ballon d'Or was awarded to the World Cup champion. In 2010, 2014 and 2018, Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric broke this "tradition". In the eight World Cups from 1978 to 2006, only three times the Ballon d'Or did not go to the world champion: in 1978 and 1986, Argentina won the World Cup, but France Football's vote was limited to European players, so in 1994, Hristo Stoichkov received the award in the context that Romario was the best player.
Alongside the World Cup, an iconic title for Argentina and an influence that transcends football, it is necessary to add the intangibles that give Messi an advantage over Erling Haaland, his biggest rival in this election: artistry, magic, endurance, encyclopedic knowledge of the game, a keen eye for interpreting different moments in each match and being 1-2 seconds faster than others. Messi's football is always secretive and mysterious.
Messi's season consisted of 54 games, 37 goals and 26 assists. Haaland (57 games, 56 goals and 9 assists) won the treble with Man City (Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup), but with Norway he did not make much of an impact. Norway failed to advance to the Nations League and will likely be a spectator at EURO 2024. Haaland could win the award in the future, but this year it is Messi's.
"I don't want to forget Haaland or Mbappe, who had a spectacular year and in the coming years they will win this award," Messi said. He also did not forget the player he always ranked as the greatest in history: "I want to mention Diego Maradona. There is no better place to wish him a happy birthday (he was born on October 30, the day of the award), surrounded by people who love football." The Golden Ball is also Messi's greeting to Europe to enjoy a new moment in the US.
