Picture Credit: Twitter
Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Argentina forward Lionel Messi clinched the Ballon d'Or awarded to the best footballer of the year for a record-extending seventh time on Monday evening at Paris. The 34-year-old superstar led Argentina to a historic Copa America win and has scored 40 goals in 2020- 21 for his former club Barcelona, four for his current club PSG and eight for his national team.
Messi edged Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho who completed the top three. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo missed out on a top-five place for the first time in 2010.
"It's incredible to be here again," Messi said at the award night held at Paris's Theatre du Chatelet.
"Two years ago I thought it was the last time. People were starting to ask me when I was going to retire but now I'm here in Paris and very happy," he added.
"It's a special year for me with this Copa America title. It meant a lot to win [1-0 against Brazil in the final] at the Maracana stadium and I was so happy to celebrate with the people from Argentina," he added.
"I don't know if it's the best year of my life - I've had a long career - but it was a special one with the title with Argentina after the tough times and the criticism," he further said.
Either Messi or Ronaldo has collected the award every year from 2008 to 2019 except for 2018 when Croatia midfielder Luka Modric won it. While Ronaldo is still at five awards, Messi won the last two to take his tally to seven and now it would be interesting to see how Ronaldo motivates himself to match Messi's feat.
The duo are known to push each other over the years and even as Messi won the seventh Ballon d'Or and Twitter deservingly hailed him, some fans also did not miss out on an opportunity to troll Ronaldo and Ronaldo fans.