Ian Kisoti
Paris St-Germain forward Lionel Messi has been crowned the winner of the 2021 Ballon d’Or award, awarded to the best footballer of the year.
The Argentinian, 34 led his country to a Copa America win, with a total of 40 goals in 2021; eight for Argentina, four for Paris St. Germain and 28 for Barcelona.
He saw off competition from Bayern Munich and Poland striker Robert Lewandowski who came second, Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho third and Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema came fourth.
“It’s incredible to be here again. Two years ago I thought it was the last time. Winning the Copa America was key,” Messi said.
“It is a special year for me with this Copa America title. It meant a lot to win at the Maracana stadium and I was so happy to celebrate with the people from Argentina.”
“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.”
Poland striker Lewandowski, 33, a strong favorite for the coveted award came second after scoring 38 goals in 30 league games for Bayern Munich in 2021. He was awarded the newly created best striker award.
Third placed Jorginho helped Italy to Euro 2020 triumph and won the Champions league trophy with Chelsea in May. Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante completed the top five ballon d’Or order respectively.
The club of the year award went to Chelsea for having most players nominated across all of the categories.
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