Messi wins Ballon d'Or for the 7th time

While Lewandowski had to settle for second place in the poll conducted by the French trade newspaper “France Football”, the Argentine lifted the trophy for the seventh time in the service of Paris Saint-Germain and is therefore the record holder of the title. “Incredible to be here. Two years ago I thought it would be the last time,” said the 34-year-old in his speech. “The key was to win the Copa America,” said Messi, who led Argentina to win the South American Championship in the summer for the first time in 28 years.

Since 2008, either Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo (5) have received the award, only in 2018 did Croatian Luka Modric break through this phalanx. This time Lewandowski had high hopes. After all, after the triple season in 33, the 2020-year-old set records again this year. Lewandowski surpassed Gerd Müller's all-time goalscoring record in the German Bundesliga with 41 goals. This season the Pole has already scored 25 goals in 20 competitive games for Bayern.

“It is an honor to be here with you. “You broke records and deserved to win the Ballon d'Or,” Messi at least had encouraging words for Lewandowski. He was still allowed on stage beforehand and was honored as the best goalscorer of the year in a newly introduced award, which was more of a consolation prize. European champion Gianluigi Donnarumma was chosen as the best goalkeeper, and the “Kopa Trophy” for the best young player was won by the Spaniard Pedri from FC Barcelona. In the women's category, the Golden Ball went to Spain's Alexia Putellas.

The Ballon d'Or is not a replacement for the world footballer's election. This election will continue to be organized by the world association FIFA and will take place on January 17, 2022. For the year 2020, Lewandowski was named a world footballer for the first time. The Ballon d'Or, however, was not awarded last year due to the corona pandemic. From 2010 to 2015, the world footballer was awarded the Golden Ball through a cooperation between FIFA and “France Football”. Ronaldo attacks co-organizer Shortly beforehand, Ronaldo, who was not present at the ceremony, sharply attacked the co-organizer of the award. “Pascal Ferré lied, he used my name to promote himself and the newspaper he works for,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram. He was responding to statements made by the editor-in-chief of “France Football,” who had claimed that Ronaldo’s biggest goal was to end his career with more Golden Balls than his long-time rival Lionel Messi. "It is unacceptable that the person responsible for awarding such a prestigious award should lie in this way, in absolute disrespect for someone who has always respected France Football and the Ballon d'Or," Ronaldo added.

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Messi wins Ballon d'Or for the 7th time

Robert Lewandowski's disappointment must have been great on Monday. It was not Bayern Munich's goalgetter, but Lionel Messi who was honored with the prestigious Ballon d'Or for 2021 in Paris.

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