Controversy Over Messi's Ballon d'Or Win Escalates as Ronaldo Backs Claims That PSG Ace Stole Award
19:15 GMT 01.12.2021 (Updated: 11:44 GMT 10.12.2022)
© REUTERS / BENOIT TESSIER
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Lionel Messi may have won an unprecedented seventh Ballon d'Or but his feat has been criticised by a section of fans and a few footballers. The controversy has turned into a war of words between supporters of the PSG star and his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo after the Portuguese made his disappointment clear with the result.
Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo joined the heated debate surrounding Argentina wizard Lionel Messi's record-extending Ballon d'Or triumph on Monday.
Ronaldo has publicly come out in support of a fan account that has accused Messi of stealing the sport's biggest prize from him and Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski.
While Lewandowski missed out on the award by a whisker – he was only 33 votes behind Messi – Ronaldo ended up in the sixth position, 435 votes shy of his archrival.
Ronaldo, who has five Ballon d'Or trophies to his name, wasn't thrilled with the outcome.
The Portugal skipper was probably furious with Messi's win and has now apparently tried to disrespect the PSG marksman by writing "facts" on the post of a fan who explained why Ronaldo should have been given the award.
The Instagram post on the account named "Cristiano Ronaldo - The Legendary" labelled Messi's landmark victory as "Theft. Dirt. Shame. Simply regrettable," while the user has hailed Ronaldo's performance throughout the 2020-21 season before giving a detailed account of his achievements.
"Who saw, saw. Anyone who is smart enough knows who the real deserving ones are. Receiving awards without earning it is false happiness, without pride," the writer explains in his remarks mocking Messi. "43 goals in the year, 6 goals in 5 games in this Champions League, all decisive and a guy who, regardless of age, continues to work miracles and is the guy who most impresses the world most often. They still put the guy in 6th… Do you really think that 5 guys did more than him in the year? Never."
He goes on: "He could fight for this award calmly and the fight would be good with Lewandowski who in individual numbers was incredible and Bayern had a better season than Juventus and has been having a calmer season than United, but at the national selection level for example, Cristiano was much better"
Ronaldo broke Iran's Ali Daei's long-standing record to emerge as the top goalscorer on the international stage. CR7 has now extended his tally to 115 goals in 184 appearances for his country.
Launching a scathing attack on Messi's display in big games, the post argued that he had "disappeared" in crucial games for Barcelona before taking a dig at Argentina's Copa America title as the tournament is no longer as prestigious as it once was.
"And who does the prize go to? For Messi, who only won the Copa del Rey by Barcelona, he hasn't scored a goal against Real Madrid since when Cristiano left, disappeared in the big games of the season, won the Copa America that was supposed to be every 4 years and do practically every year."
Ronaldo has publicly come out in support of a fan account that has accused Messi of stealing the sport's biggest prize from him and Bayern Munich superstar Robert Lewandowski.
While Lewandowski missed out on the award by a whisker – he was only 33 votes behind Messi – Ronaldo ended up in the sixth position, 435 votes shy of his archrival.
Ronaldo, who has five Ballon d'Or trophies to his name, wasn't thrilled with the outcome.
The Portugal skipper was probably furious with Messi's win and has now apparently tried to disrespect the PSG marksman by writing "facts" on the post of a fan who explained why Ronaldo should have been given the award.
The Instagram post on the account named "Cristiano Ronaldo - The Legendary" labelled Messi's landmark victory as "Theft. Dirt. Shame. Simply regrettable," while the user has hailed Ronaldo's performance throughout the 2020-21 season before giving a detailed account of his achievements.
"Who saw, saw. Anyone who is smart enough knows who the real deserving ones are. Receiving awards without earning it is false happiness, without pride," the writer explains in his remarks mocking Messi. "43 goals in the year, 6 goals in 5 games in this Champions League, all decisive and a guy who, regardless of age, continues to work miracles and is the guy who most impresses the world most often. They still put the guy in 6th… Do you really think that 5 guys did more than him in the year? Never."
He goes on: "He could fight for this award calmly and the fight would be good with Lewandowski who in individual numbers was incredible and Bayern had a better season than Juventus and has been having a calmer season than United, but at the national selection level for example, Cristiano was much better"
Ronaldo broke Iran's Ali Daei's long-standing record to emerge as the top goalscorer on the international stage. CR7 has now extended his tally to 115 goals in 184 appearances for his country.
Launching a scathing attack on Messi's display in big games, the post argued that he had "disappeared" in crucial games for Barcelona before taking a dig at Argentina's Copa America title as the tournament is no longer as prestigious as it once was.
"And who does the prize go to? For Messi, who only won the Copa del Rey by Barcelona, he hasn't scored a goal against Real Madrid since when Cristiano left, disappeared in the big games of the season, won the Copa America that was supposed to be every 4 years and do practically every year."
