After winning his seventh Ballon d’Or on November 29, Lionel Messi was in the final on Monday, in Zurich (Switzerland), for The Best of Fifa award for the best player of the year 2021. The PSG striker appeared in a last trio with the Polish Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), defending champion, and the Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool). Cristiano Ronaldo was not among the three finalists for the first time since 2010 but received a special award for his 115 goals for the national team.
Finally, Messi was overtaken by Robert Lewandowski, second – and very disappointed – following the ceremony of the last Ballon d’Or. Since his return from Argentina on January 6, Messi has not yet resumed collective training and has withdrawn from Lyon and Brest. This Monday, we learned from Tyc Sports that Lionel Scaloni, the Argentine coach, had decided not to call him up for the next two games once morest Chile and Colombia. We will have to follow his evolution when training resumes, this Tuesday followingnoon, at Camp des Loges.
No new trophy either for Gianluigi Donnarumma. Winner of the Euro with Italy, the trophy for best player in the competition, the Yachine prize (equivalent to the Golden Ball for goalkeepers), he was not beaten by the German Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) but by the Senegalese Édouard Mendy (Chelsea). Winner of the Champions League with the Blues, the latter had finished behind Donnarumma at the Yachine prize, awarded by France Football at the same time as the Golden Ball. Strangely, Donnarumma, on the other hand, is the goalkeeper who appears in the eleven of the year, just like Messi or N’Golo Kanté.
As for the goalkeepers, the Chilean Christiane Endler, champion of France with PSG and today at Olympique Lyonnais won. She was in competition with the Canadian Stéphanie Labbé, her successor in Paris, Olympic champion with Canada and the German Ann-Katrin Berger, finalist of the Champions League with Chelsea.
Another former PSG was honored: Thomas Tuchel, named best coach for his work with Chelsea, ahead of Guardiola and Mancini.
Among the women, the best player remains the Spaniard of Barça Alexia Putellas, already Women’s Golden Ball.
Finally, note that the fair play prize was awarded to the players and the doctor of the Danish team for their reaction following the cardiac arrest of Christian Eriksen who is currently talking to Brentford, a Premier League club.
