PARIS, 31 Oct. (dpa/EP) –
Former German international Lothar Matthäus described the awarding of the Ballon d’Or to Leo Messi as a “farce”, the eighth in the Argentine footballer’s career, and defended that the Norwegian Erling Haaland should have been the winner of the award because he “performed better” than the Inter Miami striker.
“Throughout last year, Haaland performed better than Messi. It is undeserved that Messi has won. For me there is no way to avoid Haaland. The election is a farce, although I am a fan of Messi,” he told the Sky channel about the award. delivered by France Football magazine.
The Argentine, 36, received the award on Monday night at a ceremony in Paris, winning the vote ahead of Haaland, of Manchester City, and Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, of Paris Saint-Germain.
According to Matthäus, Messi’s re-election as the best player in the world shows “that a World Cup counts more than anything else”, referring to the World Cup won by Argentina in Qatar 2022.
“For me, Haaland is the best player of the last twelve months, who has won important titles with Manchester City – Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup – and has broken goals records in the process,” listed the German, who won the Ballon d’Or in 1990.