We saw one massive scandal this week. The Ballon d’Or ceremony ended with Lionel Messi taking the main prize, leaving Robert Lewandowski empty-handed.
This is something nobody could expect, but the soccer lords (sponsors) once again forced an unexpected turn of events, which resulted in a controversial and ridiculous outcome. Which is a usual outcome every time they intervene.
Humility is lacking
Don’t get us wrong, we respect Messi, but much lesser after last Monday. For him to accept the award and not at least adequately give Lewandowski credit, most definitely ruined the Argentinian’s reputation and shrunk his fanbase.
He had no right to take the Golden Ball, and this compromising act will be one of few black stains in his glorious career.
Messi won the Copa America trophy, fair and square, going against all odds and beating Brazil in its own house. We saw how much beating he took back then, but we can’t say that PSG’s forward stood above others from his team. For example, Angel Di Maria was at the same level, if not even better.
Unreal Stats
Lewandowski didn’t have any international success, but his stats this year are unreal. Breaking Gerd Muller’s legendary Bundesliga record, scoring 64 goals in the 2021 calendar year so far, enjoying one phenomenal campaign in 2020, these are just a few individual reasons why the Pole should have taken the honors.
Instead, the organizers have “invented” the award for the best striker hours before the ceremony, to comfort Lewandowski, further ruining its credibility.
The first injustice he felt was in 2002 when there were no awards due to the COVID-19 chaos. Bayern and Lewa set new standards in European soccer, breaking numerous records even though the UCL campaign was cut short in the final few stages.
Barcelona and Messi know that from first hand, after being humiliated 8-2 against the Bavarians. And instead of recognizing that, France Football decided to hand the award to another guy. The one who only recently came to PSG and who plays like an average player.
Hype
But that is soccer today. It seems that it was more important to keep the hype around Paris Saint-Germain than to follow the sports motives. By the way, remember our words, PSG won’t win anything this year because of very poor chemistry and a lot of egos in one place.
One more player and his excellent performances went under the radar due to a ridiculous Ballon d’Or ceremony. Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorgino, was one of the key players in the respective quests towards the European throne. He was Chelsea’s top scorer in 2020/21, and Italy’s playmaker at EURO.
The Brazilian with the Italian passport finished third in the Ballon d’Or race, but nobody mentioned his performances due to the above-mentioned scandal. That is why we want to point out in his direction and give him credit.
All in all, we saw another proof that today’s soccer is much less about sport and much more about money. And it appears that it will stay like that.
