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In the portal "EuroFootball.com" - football fan Subo's BLOGs about current football events.
This year, Lionel Messi was once again the favorite to receive the "Golden Ball". And the predictions came true again. Of course, there is criticism of this decision, CR fans are roaring again, Messi haters (Ibra) are buzzing, and some quietly believe that Iniesta was more deserving (me).
But what can you do, Andreas was born at a time when Messi and CR07 are dominating, while the intellectual game creators who make them successful remain in the background (not only Iniesta, but also Xavi and Xabi Alonso).
However, it cannot be said that Leo was undeserving. Gerd Muller's record seemed out of the realm of fantasy, in reality, during the total football era, defense was not a priority area of the game and match results across Europe more closely resembled the current Dutch league rather than Serie A or Ligue1.
However, Messi's past year was phenomenal. Circumstances aligned perfectly - in the first part of the year, "Barca" was clearly in crisis and Messi was the only player stable enough among all attackers.
Now "Barca" is playing unreal football again, black days are rare, and other offensive players shine - Pedro, Cesc, but "Barca" is so powerful, safely playing so well, that there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to score.
Yes, the Catalans only won the Copa del Rey, and the base season, in terms of player success, usually ends up being the one that has already ended.
But other competitors cannot boast of something significantly more impressive. And the traditional argument that Argentina wins nothing seems very pitiful, because how could they win any tournament this year, when the South American Championship and the World Championship did not take place last year.
Last year, EURO 2012 took place. Its hero was Iniesta. In my opinion, the winner should be the person who was the key player of the European or world championship winners and/or the most important person of the Champions League winners.
Mata and Torres - the former due to too small a role in EURO 2012, the latter due to too small a role in both tournaments. "Chelsea" did not really have any standout individuals. The Spanish national team remains, and there the leader was Iniesta. Others played well too - Silva, Xabi, Xavi, Iker, but Iniesta stood out the most and shone brightly, where he rarely plays. Of course, with "Barca" winning the Copa del Rey, but essentially, in my opinion, Iniesta was slightly more deserving of receiving the ball. Of course, Iniesta and Messi will not become enemies because of this.
Then there's CR07. If the award was to be given to the best footballer in the world in general, then his presence in the top three would be indisputable. Now the best player of 2012 is being chosen. Of course, CR07 had a good season, won La Liga after a long break, scored quite a few goals. Winning La Liga is a significant achievement, but it is not something more impressive than what Messi and Iniesta achieved with "Barca".
Yes, La Liga is very strong, but still... If Real had won the Champions League, I would say that Messi deserves 3rd place, and the ball should be shared between Iniesta and CR07. He had a good EURO 2012 with Portugal, but Iniesta had a better one. Finally, at the start of this season, "Real" was really poor and CR07 himself is third in La Liga after Messi and Falcao. The conclusion - undeserving.
And if I had to choose emotionally, I would give the ball to Pirlo. For the fact that the unnecessary old man played like Chuck Norris in ACM and the team without decent strikers won Serie A without experiencing a single defeat and for leading the full of mediocrity Italy to the EURO 2012 final. At least he deserved to be in the top three.
