Lionel Messi beats Cristiano Ronaldo. After winning the World Soccer Player of the Year award, Lionel Messi passed longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the rankings. The Portuguese legend has won the prize five times compared to the Argentine icon’s six victories.
The 35-year-old had a memorable year, winning the World Cup with Argentina for the first time, and receiving the Golden Ball award. In seven games, he scored seven goals and contributed three assists. In 21 games this season, the PSG forward, who also won Ligue 1, has racked up 13 goals and 14 assists.
The selection of Lionel Messi as the magazine’s Player of the Year over Karim Benzema, who won the 2022 Ballon d’Or, UEFA Champions League, and La Liga title, was described by World Soccer’s Jamie Evans as follows: “The World Cup remains the apex of the sport, where legends are written and legacies are defined, even though the Champions League may properly claim to be the greatest competitive level of modern football.”
Messi’s name will now always be linked to the year 2022, much like Pele, Maradona, and Zinedine Zidane are with 1970, 1986, and 1998, respectively, he continued. Lionel Messi defeated Cristiano Ronaldo to a record-breaking number of victories in winning the title of World Soccer’s Player of the Year. The forward from Portugal has five.
He had a challenging year’s conclusion after being given a small role at his old team Manchester United. In 16 appearances for the Red Devils, he managed just three goals and two assists. At the World Cup, the 37-year-old also had difficulty, scoring just one goal in five contests.
The manager of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, has maintained his stance that Lionel Messi, rather than Cristiano Ronaldo, is the best player in history. In response to Argentina winning the FIFA World Cup, the German coach said: “Lionel Messi, the best football player I have ever seen, should serve as an example of how long a football player can maintain peak performance. The books shouldn’t be closed too soon.”
Before this, Klopp has been consulted on the issue of Messi and Ronaldo. 2020: “For me Messi, but I really can not admire Ronaldo anymore than I do already,” he said in an interview with the YouTube channel freekickerz.
Although the storied pair are currently competing in football in different countries, their rivalry is unlikely to ever come to an end. This past week, Cristiano Ronaldo beat the Argentine by scoring twice in a friendly match between Paris Saint-Germain and the Riyadh Season Team. Messi only registered one goal.
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