Angel Di Maria on playing centrally for PSG, Lionel Messi deserving the Ballon d’Or

By
Roy Nemer
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115

Angel Di Maria spoke about playing centrally for PSG and Lionel Messi.

Di Maria has been at PSG since 2015 and often plays on the wing for the club. However, the Argentine has also played centrally for Real Madrid. Speaking in the interview with RMC, here is what he had to say when asked if he can play centrally:

“I believe I already showed that I could play in that position. It was my best year in 2014 with Real Madrid. The coach knows that I could play therre but they’re his decisions. He is there to decide and for us to do as well as we can on the pitch, anywhere, in the middle, up front or anywhere else.

“They are questions for him, the only thing I have done since arriving at PSG is giving my maximum when I am on the pitch. For sure I love to play with the ball at my feet. In 2014, I played in the middle and I felt very good, very happy. And with quality players at PSG like Marco, Leandro or Gana, it could be done too but those are decisions for the coach.”

On if he is ready to put in the effort to play in that position:

“Yes, obviously. I want to play and always be in the starting eleven. Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not but the important thing is to always be on top and to do your best for the coach to have another option. And after that, it’s for him to decide with his coaching staff. They decide how to organize the team and my only objective is to be 100%.”

He was also asked if Lionel Messi deserves to win the Ballon d’Or:

“Yes, I believe he does. He had an important year in his career. Winning the Copa America with his country after having so many things happen to him with the national team, he finally won it. For that alone he largely deserves it.”

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115 Comments

  2. Question guys: Where’s Erik Lamela been? I haven’t seen him featured in any of the past 3 Sevilla games. He’s not starting nor is he on the bench. Is he injured again???

  3. My loyalty is only with our players. I root for clubs who has our players. If you don’t have our players, I don’t have much of an interest. So, unfortunately my loyalty changes.

    There are history though which has led to some soft corner for some clubs. Like Inter for Zanetti and so many others playing at the same time. Villareal for Riquelme days and a little bit for Barcelona. Barcelona was always fond of Brazilian players and Real Madrid for Argentines. Messi is an anomaly. New fans in last 15 years associate Barcelona and Argentina because of Messi, but he is really an anomaly.

    Now on the Messi Balon D’or topic. Well, he is going to win his 7th tomorrow, and fully deserved. I will be shocked if something else happens tomorrow. This is an award for best player in the world, not best striker only. And yes he had a stellar year individually (Pichichi for a crappy Barca) and team wise too (Copa del Rey and Copa america). No one even comes close to him.

    The way people argue, going by that logic, some Tom Dick or harry should get the best actor Oscar award because they had a 2 mins side role in an Oscar winning movie. The logic is unbelievable.

    Sorry for the haters, he is getting it tomorrow. Will come here tomorrow to celebrate our king.

  5. “Fifa should try something so that Italy and Portugal both can go to World Cup. World Cup needs star players”.

    really now? seriously?
    one world cup without Italy or Portugal. oh man i will start crying now please. i can t stand with this thinking. i don t have mood to eat now seriously !!!

    Jesus Christ when i am saying that i have see everything here always something new come up to show me that i am not yet !!!

    • The world cup does need star players and the traditional teams in it for marketing and global prestige. Imagine one without Argentina, Brazil, Germany, etc. No need to get worked up for opinion. The problem with Mundo is people overreact to comments/opinions too much and unnecessarily. Wouldn’t you want to see Argentina knock out Portugal in the knockout rounds? Do you want to see Denmark vs Serbia in a round of 8 or Italy vs Germany? Will South Korea vs Poland draw high attendance ratings? This is why people (myself included) say WC needs Italy and Portugal. Btw, Portugal is unfairly in a playoff only because no VAR and a goal from CR7 was denied earlier in qualification. Otherwise, Portugal would have qualified automatically. Additionally, the reigning European Champions Italy could fail to be in the tournament whereas in the past this meant automatic qualification. This is kind of absurd, especially when considering the U.S. could be in it, yet they have no chance of being contenders. Look at the 2018 WC. It was boring to see England and Croatia in the last 4.

      When we all feared in 2018 that Argentina may fail to qualify, I’m sure you and everyone felt that a World Cup without our NT is not a great WC. Let’s not be fanatics, but true lovers of the game. If you love the game, you would love all of the great historic teams a well as the typical pretender/contenders, and potential dark horses in the tournament as teams like Australia, Costa Rica, US, South Korea, Japan, Iran are a waste of space really.

      • I will admit, I completely forgot about the disallowed Portugal goal. That being said, it is very unfair for them to deal with playoffs now. But there can’t just be a system made to specifically benefit “big teams”. This year, it is true Italy is one of the best teams in Europe and the world, so from a neutral perspective it would be more boring to have them out. But you can’t make a system that quantifies that based on opinion, if that happened every year there would be teams that get in without deserving it. The qualifiers in Europe exist for a reason, the best teams go through and other teams don’t. If big teams with lots of players that are worth a lot of money play bad football and don’t go through, how much more entertaining would it be exactly? Like I said that doesn’t apply to Italy this year, but any system like that is bound to cause controversy in the future, let in teams that don’t deserve it, and be used as a tool for greed. Why do we as fans care about “marketing”? That only gives more money to the people that already are making a ton of money from the World Cup being in Qatar to begin with. Not only that, they already have a system that is benefiting teams like Austria and the Czech Republic. This also contradicts the point of football itself. It is won on the PITCH. If a team is let in just because they have a few players that give extra marketing, the whole game is corrupted. This reminds me of the super league thing

        • @olive Thanks for your comments. I agree the game must be played on the pitch. I was speaking from a fan of the game perspective. Perhaps I was looking at this from the “mafia lens” of Sepp Blatter who would never let this happen. But you are correct, it is great to see the underdog win. However, is it really fair that a team of a Costa Rica caliber could be there as opposed to Italy or Portugal?

          I try to think of this as a FIFA Executive looking at this issue. I do think that Portugal/Italy fixture is a ploy to get approval for a 48 team World Cup. If everyone in the committee wasn’t in favor of a 48 team WC, then after this they will be.

          I appreciate your comments as always.

          • In these sorts of discussions there are many points of views to consider. My perspective is of course that I want Argentina to win, and the less Italys and Portugals the easier that would be. Of course, if you asked me if I would rather beat Portugal or Costa Rica I would say Portugal as it would mean more and be more entertaining.

            With regards to your statement if it is fair for Costa Rica to be in over Italy or Portugal, I sort of agree. Last world cup we got both Costa Rica and Panama. I do not understand how North America gets three automatically qualified teams. That’s just one more than South America, and even Bolivia would destroy Panama. Thinking from a neutral fan perspective that wants a good world cup and also wants football to be won on the pitch, I think removing an automatic qualification spot from concacaf (so they’re left with two automatic spots and one playoff spot) and somehow adding it back into UEFA would be wise. Again, this means that the team that gets into that spot has to earn it, maybe it is not Italy or Portugal but whoever earns it is going to be better than Panama for instance. Last world cup the Netherlands and Italy would have been far more competitive than both central American nations.

            What you mention about the 48 team WC thing is interesting, it seems that FIFA would prefer to just make the world cup bigger for those Italys and Portugals to be involved rather than doing what I said in taking qualifying spots from less competitive continents and moving them into more competitive continents.

      • the answer to your questions is very simple. if i will fail to qualify NOBODY exept me and all the Argentina fans will suffer and get sad.
        the rest will be smile and express their pity for “poor” Argentina that will “miss” from world cup. i don t have desire for favors from fifa or sympathy from anyone.
        i am happy if Italy and Portugal will fail. in my place they will do same.
        i will be happy to win world cup even if i will play with South korea ,Iran Poland or Ukraine. i want to win. that s it. i don t care to see a luxurious world cup. i don t care to see shine stars and teams. i care only Argentina wins. that is only concern me. if i win world cup final against Costa rica is fine by me.

        • @cox4 lol I really appreciate your passionate response. You are correct that no one would care if we failed. In fact, they would mock us. I was looking at the situation from a FIFA executive mind and a neutral fan point of view. However, I must admit I like to play the best and beat the best. You know there’s always someone that will say, “they didn’t play anyone and had it easy.”

          Overall you are correct.

    • I don’t think Portugal can qualify as long as Santos is here. They can actually even lost against Turkey. I am obviously not a Portgual fan but feel bad for their people. A team which has so many talented players but destroyed by the bad tactics of a coach. It’s tough.

      On the other hand, I don’t think Italy can go far in that competition even if they are qualified. I was amazed by their new football but the same surprise cannot happen twice. They don’t have any world class players to make the difference.

      • Although I don’t follow Argentine local players that much recently, I think Almendra is a very solid player. I watched lots of his highlights on Youtube and all of them showed his big potential. I know highlights aren’t the best way to judge a player, but they show some of his worth if not all of them. I hope Scaloni will give both players a chance to showcase their abilities since we have already qualified.

    • Almendra is having a solid run of games but he’s nowhere near consideration for the NT, he needs to play like he is now for atleast an entire season to be even considered. EnganChe is right, Zaracho is the one who should be considered.
      Nico Dominguez is absolutely fantastic and since he’s not playing as a ‘5’ in a double pivot but rather a CM, he gets to show his attacking abilities abit more. Still I would like him to have a more attacking role in a midfield 3, because that’s where his true talent lies. I see him as a great sub for either Celso or De Paul, infact I would love to see this midfield 3 in the coming WCQ:

      ————-Nico D—————-Palacios——————-Zaracho————-

      I think those 3 U23yr next gen could make for a real good midfield.

      Also, I can’t forget about Ascacibar, who I still think is a really capable midfielder if given a chance.

  8. Christina sitting on the bench vs Chelsea in a big game and replaced by another Portuguese…….say it ain’t so Joe.

    I wonder if she’ll show up tomorrow to congratulate the GOAT!!

  9. C. Romero has serious injury there is no time frame. Even 36 year old Thiago Silva is also playing in Premiere league and he rarely gets injured.In Serie A C. Romero was continuously playing throughout the season.

  10. This is the version of messi i want to see for argentina, over the years we are all blaming we dont have creators for messi to score goals like he do for barca but i always wonder why messi the playmaker not have many assist for argentina when he has topclass forwards of aguero, higuin, tevez (higuin spoiled some chance i know)

  11. Messi is the kind of player that wants and NEEDS the ball to play well, how often did we see him not perform up to his standards while playing for Barcelona just for the simple fact that he wasn’t getting the ball or not enough and then you have the added pressure of playing within the parameters of PSG and you get the current version of Messi now.
    I expect to see more of him in the future especially after he bags his 7ths tomorrow!
    Notice how he shaved for tomorrow’s acceptance speech ;-).

  12. di maria played almost as a right central midfielder, perfect mix with gueye and danilo. he dropped deep to drive the ball, always dangerous in transition, a lot of long passing for mbappe, can combine in small space, acted as inner midfielder between messi and hakimi. Anyway psg has no choice, they need to play him and gueye to replace verratti as the Italian always injured.

    about his best season, I think under tuchel as right playmaker he played even better than in 2014. tuchel was the one who unlocked his full potential, ancelotti was more about to fix a pb because several cm were injured and they signed bale

  13. really happy to see messi is back with 3 assists, they play much much better with ramos who allowed the team to defend on the opponents side which make messi much more comfortable. Number 10 in a high pressing bloc messi is still the goat.i really like his connection with other players, never leave him in an isolated right winger position again

  15. Sorry to see Neymar injured and wish him a fast recovery because otherwise it would be a cheap shot……………..having said that……more time for Messi and balls coming his way and he’ll prove all his detractors wrong because Messi is Not DONE tyvm.

  17. Messi is magician you never know when he pulls rabbit out of his hat. Goat thing. 7th is coming and 8th is downloading.

  18. Messi doesn’t deserve the Ballon d’or!!?? words spoken on this particular site are blasphemous!!
    Messi doesn’t care about ARG
    Messi is nothing without Barcelona
    Messi picked wrong when given the choice between ARGENTINA and Spain and wishes he could go back and change it.
    Messi is not liked in ARG.
    Messi is not a leader or a CAPTAIN.
    Messi WILL NEVER WIN “””””ANYTHING”””” for ARG.

    All these are accusations said about the man that we all heard and we said “NO” none of it is true……………….I understand that some here are Messi/Barcelona fans AND/OR and started watching ARG just for that fact and some are disappointed that he Left Barcelona and in their eyes is no longer worthy of their love and affection.

    ARGENTINA won COPA AMERICA with Messi running the show……………ARG/MESSI did what Many said it was not possible, never mind beating Brazil on their own soil and you COME HERE and say Messi doesn’t deserve the ballon d ‘Or ……………this HERE is Argentina’s territory and you’re behind enemy lines friend!!

  19. Messi is dramatic again today…. one of the worst on the field …. He look like he is totaly finish physicaly … it’s really sad to see him that slow. Without the ball he is useless like always but now even with the ball .. Sad…

    I wish its just a lack of stamina and his second part of the season will be better but at 34y old… im afraid to think he is finito…

    • I think he played well than last couple of matches. You also need to understand that all the play doesn’t go through him and it’s not only Messi but entire team is not in rhythm.
      Messi always plays best when team understands his movement and even if they don’t, he can play make. I have seen countless pass from Neymar, Mbappe and Did maria which they made expecting someone to be there. Sometimes I feel this team doesn’t have any plan and atkeast the front three does whatever they like.

    • So, Messi suddenly becomes 80 years old in just 4 months LOL , his form has nothing to with his physical condition still very few players in the world can match the strength of messi if he has ball at his feet.
      The reason behind his bad form is he looks completely uninterested and lethargic to play for PSG and Farmers league, In barcelona he used to carry all the responsibility single handedly.

    • I think we(including myself) need to lower their expectation on messi and he need to be put in a comfortable situation. Messi doesn’t necessarily need tiki taka to be good, all he need is the team pressing very high, playing on the opponents side and he plays in a central position(10 or half 9). He cannot play well in fast transition football or in a team that defend too deep.

  22. As for those thinking that someone else might steal the ballon d’or from Messi, it is not going to happen. Here is why..

    Europe rarely vote for Messi, yes it is no secret. Even in Messi best years, all the Europe giants normally are against voting for Messi (except the likes of Spain). Some of the Eastern Europe did vote for Messi sometimes though.

    But as big as European countries there are “only” 45 countries.

    Asia in contrast has 48 countries
    America continents has 35 countries
    Africa has 54 countries
    Not to mention Australia and somewhere around.

    Believe me, any continents except Europe would most likely vote for Messi. I mean do u think the likes of Honduras or Costa Rica or Nigeria or Venezuela would vote for someone who achieve nothing in 1 year who has NOT even been selected as All Euro team like Lewandowski?

    Probably Europe will be biased. Their hero CR7 gets no chance this year, so they would find another hero.

    But 45 countries alone won’t be enough. Europe actually one of the smallest continents compared to Asia and Africa country wise. Their power not strong enough. Remember all the votes have the same value regardless it comes from Germany or the likes of Uganda.

    The majority of futbol coaches/team captains/medias of the rest of the world know this simple fact:

    What it means to win Copa America in Brazil being the best player, top scorer, top assist mean in 28 years.

    So Jorginho? You have no chance.

    Lewandowski? Lol… you will NEVER win any ballon d’or in your career. Once you move to another club from Bayern, you will be just like Shevchenko 2.0.

    Sorry but he is not even in Messi’s league. It is like comparing Michael Jordan and Mario Elie lol.

    • Its already final Messi is going to receive 7th ballondor tomorrow, voting was already closed on 30 September.
      But the question is does he deserve to win this year? , i would say NO.

      • If lewandowski Poland had won Euro 2020 and he was the top scorer and the best player of the tournament AND if he had won the CL with Munchen being the top scorer then he would have 50-50 chance to get Ballon D’or this year.

        But being unable to inspire his country in the second biggest tournament in futbol, Euro Cup will not help his case at all. Even Shevchenko single handedly took Ukraine in WC 2006 when he was still playing. Lewa is just super overrated.

        Messi does not deserve it? Lol. That’s the biggest joke of the year. Someone who is a big failure for his country deserves it then?

        Dont tell me he played great for Poland. Rank bottom in their group with 1 draw and 2 losses. Ballon d’or my ass.

        Sheva Ukraine had a shitty team but he single handedly took Ukraine to the quarter final of the World Cup 2006. And that kinda player still never won Ballon D’or.

        • Messi was La liga top scorer and top assister last season , won Copa del rey and scored twice in the final. Even in Barca poor CL campaign Messi had 5 goals + 2 asists in just 7 games.

          After that, he dominated Copa America and won all awards possible there. This was followed by a hattrick which saw him surpassing Pele and becoming South America highest goalscorer of all time… plus he scored another against Uruguay to became first South American player to hit 80 international goals.

          He had 3 goals + 1 assists in 4 games in CL so far with PSG, but obviously now in all sudden Ligue one stats is the only thing that matter because Messi is playing there LOL. Biggest joke of all time.

          Remember that ligue 1 is being labelled as farmer’s league before Messi’s arrival!

          The guy is butthurt cause he’s actually Brazucas in disguise to get attention from Argentine fans.

    • So, if your arguments are correct a lot of talented players will never the golden ball because they were born in a country that is highly unlikely to ever win a tournament.

      George Weah is prove that excellent performances for a club can be enough.

  23. Kevin, anyone can like certain players or dislike them. But your issues with Lautaro, and all other footballers at large, go beyond regular player criticisms. You have an odd tendency to focus in on one or two physical aspects or characteristics of a player as a way of coming to a conclusion about them at large. Thankfully you’ve given up with this one, but does anyone remember the “Lisandro is short” or “Senesi is slow”? Now it’s that Lautaro is not strong, or is not good with headers. It’s true, every player has a weakness or two, but you like fixating your whole opinion on them in order to convince other people that these players are bad or should not be in the national team. What matters first and foremost is that a player can function, on a tactical and social level, with the team, based on the system we play and other factors. Let’s just assume that Lautaro is in fact very weak, and does get bullied by top defenders, what 6 foot plus Lukaku/Zapata/Haaland physical center forward do we have? And if they exist do they tactically help in the way Lautaro does? Even if Lautaro doesn’t score a goal in a game, the other things he provides such as pressing that helps facilitate other goals from other players. He keeps the defense focused on him, meanwhile we have other great finishers such as Messi, Di Maria, Dybala that will end up scoring. I am not sure if you are simply not able to understand these concepts that are constantly explained to you, or if you are too proud to admit ever being wrong, even slightly. Like enganche mentioned, first it was Tagliafico, then it was Montiel (who to be fair shut more mouths than just your own), now it seems to be Lautaro. You latch onto these players one time and when circumstances challenge your opinions on them you still hold your position no matter what, so we are left with months and months of these same discussions on and on. I think the problem may be your pride. I’m not denying that Foyth is talented, he is defensively great in one on ones and good at passing the ball forward. But I don’t care about that if he will throw away the game as he has done numerous times in the past. Id rather have Montiel or Molina, even if they are more “average”, especially since they are natural full backs that can attack. Foyth’s “attacking” is the way a DM or ball playing center back attacks. A full back is supposed to look like a winger when they attack.

    • First of all Di Maria is not a goalscorer, Dybla rarely plays and Messi is not scoring lately so who gonna score?
      Argentina does not lack in no. 9 position just take a closer look at history. Still there are many choices.
      I criticized Tagliafico but he transformed himself
      Player can step up their game any time.
      Montiel is average player I do not want to talk about him right now Molllina is best for RB spot.
      Zaneeti was never looked like a winger despite that he was one of the best fullback of his time.
      Lautaro keeps defence focuses on him I doubt it. He gets sandwiched between tall defender. He shoot has no power countless time he missed empty net.Other no. 9 should get chance still Scaloni has not given chances to Alario.

    • Lisandro is short, Senesi is slow and not a ball playing CB, Montiel is average (that’s why he is at Sevilla somehow), etc…

      But with Lautaro, it’s actually worse than that, it’s simply NOT true that he is weak or not good in the air. The OPPOSITE is in fact true. So in a sense Kevin’s tendencies are getting worse but he wants to persist in his delusion.

      And Zanetti was literally like a tractor, bombing up and down the flank. Again DISTORTION of reality. You are probably too young to really remember Zanetti play.

  24. Dybla played well against Atalanta, Dybla should play instead of Di Maria in playing 11 as starter.Dybla has better short passing ability in final third than Di Maria.Di Maria is good as substitute.

    • or maybe with both if Scaloni plays in a 4312, Di Maria as 1 of the central midfielders and Dybala half 9. Di Maria lost his pace but still good in his long passing and his capacity to resist the pressing. In any case, yes I agree that Scaloni should try to find a way to play Messi and Dybala together. At least give a try.

    • I think he’s an excellent option because he can play in all positions of the attack. His football style is quite a good fit with the new generation Gavi, Nico and Pedri, besides currently nobody in attack seems to be impossible to replace. On the left seems to be between Gavi and Ansu even though I see Gavi more as a midfielder. Ansu is unable to play 5 games in a row. On the right, I see nobody. Dembele and Abde are both incredible in dribbling but Dembele always injured and Abde doesn’t seem very efficient in finishing. I think Julian Alvarez can immediately start as left or right forward in the 11 and may eventually replace Depay as central forward when the Dutch is out of form.

      • Foyth won Europa league and shined in that match while Lautaro ghosted in Copa final. Lautaro against solid defence looks like lost child. Remember that

        • Here’s the problem with you Kavinder, aka Kavi aka “Kevin”, you make stuff up. We all have favorite players and players that frustrate us. But you, in support of your strange ideas, tend to distort reality, saying things that are simply untrue, things that are blatantly and demonstrably false. Such as Lautaro gets lost against solid defense, this is utter rubbish and you will not get away with that nonsense. As I mentioned to you earlier, Koulibaly and Di Lorenzo and Napoli in general are not amateurs. You used to say untruths about Tagliafico, then Montiel, now it’s Lautaro’s turn it seems. E.g. Lautaro is weak in the air (false), Lautaro is not physically strong (false), etc. I mean, his nickname is literally “el toro” – the bull; that was given to him because he is weak, right? You sir, more often than not, don’t know what you are talking about. Highly idiosyncratic, borderline asinine opinions…

          • Buendia might have a few fans but apart from Kavinder nobody else is so devoted to Foyth. It’s a love at first sight. Kind of like between Romance KING and W..a Zorra de Icardi.

          • You are so imbecile. Lautaro is weak in air that is a fact for a Centre forward, yes he ghosted against solid defence all are true for nick name El toto, it’s man who makes title not title makes man. Lautaro is not on level of other CF in physicality.

          • You are a great example of a psychological phenomena known as belief perseverance, i.e. maintaining a belief despite evidence that firmly contradicts it.

            Let me demonstrate one more time but alas, I think your reaction will be predictable. As per whoscored.com below are Lautaro’s strengths and weakness:

            Strengths: Finishing (Strong), Headed attempts (Strong), Defensive Contribution (Strong), Passing (Weak).
            And in case you are wondering they explain their methodology or how them come up with their ratings.

            “WhoScored.com Ratings are considered to be the most accurate, respected and well-known performance indicators in the world of football. Our ratings are currently used among media giants, bookmakers and football clubs.

            WhoScored.com Ratings are based on a unique, comprehensive statistical algorithm, calculated live during the game. There are over 200 raw statistics included in the calculation of a player’’s/team’’s rating, weighted according to their influence within the game. Every event of importance is taken into account, with a positive or negative effect on ratings weighted in relation to its area on the pitch and its outcome”.

            P.S. Previously I also provided words of praise to Lautaro from Messi, Zanetti, Milito and Batistuta but you dismiss and explain everything away, somehow you know better.

    • Some day ago Lautaro Martinez missed penalty why you do not highlight that you Lautaro Martinez ass kisser. That was simple trip in by Foyth unlucky there nothing more.

  29. Watch Aston Villa vs Crystal Palace.

    Emi Martinez was superb despite conceding the last goal.

    Emi Buendia lost his spot in the starting 22. He played the last 7 minutes only. He was not bad in 7 minutes and was involved in Villa second goal.

    The bad news for Buendia is that his replacement in the starting 11, the teenager Ramsey played sensational.

    • I could be wrong but I think Gerard wants him to play further upfield closer Watkins and baily….
      But Ramsey is the reason why he sat on the bench
      A few times this season

  30. The World Cup needs both Italy and Portugal in it. Italy for its championship history & Portugal for be being a dark horse/pretender in the last two decades.

    I would have liked to play Portugal in round 16, knock them out with a Messi hattrick, and see CR7 exchange shirts with Messi after the match (most likely he would cry and storm off the pitch). End the debate once and for all!

    It’s interesting that FIFA has organized the fixture this way, whereas in the past it favored the “big teams”. Perhaps it is done to express their reasons why they should increase qualifications from 32 to 48 teams in the World Cup. They will say, “In the past Netherlands, and recently Italy/Portugal failed to make it. We can’t have the world cup without its stars or the European Champions”.

    They may even let domestic winners have automatic qualifications again due to this.

    • He does not even deserve to be the runner up of Ballon D’or. Winning Bundesliga and top scorer of bundesliga only and u won ballon d’or? gimme a break.

      What else does he do? shitty performance with Poland? Getting outplayed by Haaland in Champions league last year?

      • “Bundesliga and top scorer of bundesliga only and u won ballon d’or?”
        Then why did Messi win in 2010 and Ronaldo in 2013?
        “What else does he do? shitty performance with Poland?”
        He was great for poland in euro scored 3 goals in 3 matches it was his team which let him down , what messi could have won with this poland team?

        “Getting outplayed by Haaland in Champions league last year?”
        Your are talking like Haaland is a bad player, Lewandowski was superb in UCL till he got injured , Bayren knocked out by psg when Lewa was not there.
        Messi is the best player of all time but this year Lewa deserved it.

        • No way. Not even close. Bundesliga and top scorer alone won’t get him anywhere. There is NOTHING else he achieved other than that the whole year.. not even German Cup winner.

          As for Lewa with Poland, did he even make the team of the tournaments? So you are saying someone who does NOT even make the team of the tournament is this year Ballon D’or winner?

          That is smart.

          The 3 forwards of the team of the tournament of Euro are Chiesa, Lukaku, and Sterling. Just a reminder.

          What Messi could have won with Poland? Lemme ask u this question, what Lewa could have done with Argentina in last year Copa?

    • If Lewa is CR7, he might win it. Remember how CR7 won Ballon D’or in 2014 despite his team got eliminated early in the WC, the most important event of the year. And in champion league final that year, he’s not the best player either.
      Messi won golden ball for WC2014 yet lost Ballon D’or to him.

  32. Did you guys watch Otamendi’s performance against Barcelona? I thought he was a beast. I dont generally like him for his occassional stupid mistakes but I think his move from Man city gave him a new life.. and also his performances with the NT is doing wonders for his club form. Anyways I am happy for him

  34. Messi deserves Ballon d’ Or?
    January until July 2021 yes
    September until November 2021 no

    Robert Lewandowski has been more consistent this year.

      • Europe has more team captains and coaches than South America. The media thinks they will vote for Lewandowski who missed out last year. Messi was great in the Copa America and Copa del Rey. His lacklustre performances in PSG won’t convince European captain and coaches to vote for him. Even the fans are wondering was has happened (injuries, motivation issues…?). In July there was no doubt who would win. Now there is. Jorginho and Salah are mentioned too.

        If Robert was not injured I guess Bayern would have won the CL again.

    • To win Ballon D’or all things matter. The biggest factors are:
      1. WC winner/best player
      2. Euro/Copa America winner
      3. Champions cup winner as the best player
      4. Individual achievements (top scorer in their league, assist leaders and so)
      5. Their league winner as the best player
      6. Domestic cup winner (copa del rey or FA cup or Italian cup)

      Number 1 is the most prestigious one, number 2 is the second most prestigious, number 6 is the least.

      Let’s see Messi vs Lewandowski:

      Messi gets number 2, 4, and 6
      Lewandowski gets number 4 and 5 only.

      Note: Bayern did not even win the German cup

      Messi has a much more superior year for sure. Not even close.

      As for number 4: Messi finish top scorer of la liga, Copa America, best player of Copa America.

      Lewandowski number 4: top scorer of Bundesliga only.

      Note: Champions cup top scorer is his nemesis Haaland and champions cup best forward is Haaland too.

      So Lewandowski getting the Ballon D’or for winning the bundesliga and top scorer of local league only? No way. Remember Poland did not even surprise anyone (unlike Denmark) in the Euro Cup.

      Lewandowski does NOT even deserve to be in second place. Jorginho deserves the second spot to me as he won the Euro 2020 and Champions cup as the key player for both Italy and Chelsea.

      • Messi won Copa America beating Brazil at home, that’s all that matter this year actually. Messi said he’d trade all his club thropies for senior thropy with Argentina. He had achieved his ultimate dream, now only a WC thropy could top that.

      • CR has never been WC finalist , golden ball winner or top scorer. Portugal has never been in final either, they’re non factor in WC history other than Eusabio in 1966.

        Messi always qualified AUTOMATICALLY with Argentina. CR dont deserve to be in Balon top 5. Top 10 maybe for his marketability and scoring penalties.

    • No no no. I only care about Argentina. It is better for us to have a potentially easier route by having one of Italy or Portugal out. Plus, it would be blatantly unfair for Italy or Portugal to be given a divine right to get in the World Cup ahead of other teams, if they couldn’t get into the automatic spots on their own, their problem. It’s already unfair enough that Austria get into the playoffs in 4th spot behind Israel because of the nations league bs. They aren’t going to simultaneously create five different systems to benefit the “big” teams

  36. So it is Portugal or Italy. Wow. The World Cup woll be without CR7 or the Euro Champion (arguably the strongest team in Europe).

    Portugal will play at home against Turkey and (if winning) against Italy. For sure I’ll support Italy.

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