You can see something from his expression when a reporter is really laying it on thick. He does not seem to be someone who is even slightly weary of the praise coming his way. He has a great footballing brain. That does not mean he has a complex mind. He is neither a bad guy nor a good one. He is average. I.e. someone who probably would cheat or has cheated on his wife with groupies, like Pele, Maradona (oh definitely) or both Ronaldos have done and will keep doing. He is not a saint.
He breaks down his opponents with brute 'force'. He is a queer fish, in that he is neither a tap in merchant like van Basten was nor a scorer of great goals like Zidane, or Bergkamp... he is somewhere on that spectrum. He is a powerfully gifted footballer, but he lacks subtlety. He is a bulldozer with his amazing ability to pass the ball, dribble, or score. We will have to wait for decades to see someone come anywhere close to his insane power.
But compare any of his Ballon D'or wins to the first one that Cruyff won. Cruyff was the best player in Europe in 1970. Yet he scored just ONE GOAL in the European Cup that season. Let that sink in.
I have nothing against Messi though, especially outside of football. His tax dodging antics are just a drop in the bucket as far as tax evasion is concerned. Crusty and shady businessmen are the ones who ought to be punished for their frankly anti- patriotic, sneaky, disgusting ways to cheat their government.
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samoanjoes (51275)
10 months ago
When Messi won player of the tournament in the 2014 World Cup, he didn't get a goal in the knockout stages and only got one assist in the first knockout stage. He was tied for third most goals. When he won player of the tournament in the 2022 World Cup, 4 of his 7 goals were from penalties. Mbappe scored 8 goals and only 2 were penalties. Why did Messi win beat player? FIFA and the media really have a love affair with him.
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Luffy (837)
10 months ago
Agreed, Muller should have won in 2014. Mbappe deserved to win something and might have been acknowledged had his team won in the penalty shootout. But the latter will shine in future World Cups. Only, Mbappe as a sportsman is cut roughly from the same cloth as Messi. You might dislike him even more than Messi when Mbappe gets more exposure. Just consider Messi as a benign pustule if it helps you sleep better :)
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