This Monday February 27, a few weeks after the World Cup, the ceremony for the FIFA The Best 2022 trophies rewarded several of the most exceptional players of this year. After seeing Messi win the Best Men’s Player award, many felt that Karim Benzema should have been crowned instead. Why shouldn’t FIFA The Best split?
I remember that I had gone to an election to be Secretary General of an association of former students of my high school a few years ago. You get up and the assembly votes. I had a challenger more competent than me for the job. But people loved me, more than him. So they voted overwhelmingly for me without ever thinking about the rational reasons for their vote.
Conclusion, a few months later, they said to themselves “We should have voted for the other. Badal is never there! “We voted by feeling. There is no point in looking for rationality in all the votes. It’s a lot of emotion that plays a role. It doesn’t matter who we put against Messi today for any trophy, if it’s by public vote and not based on a rational scale, he has a very, very strong chance of winning. Not necessarily because of his performances today but for what he has accomplished throughout his career which has given him a certain aura.
Messi’s huge career
However, it is worth remembering that The Best FIFA Awards was created in 2016 for a first edition in 2017, which is why no Spanish player or coach has had this award after winning the FiFa World Cup in 2010.
However, who today can say that he has more fans (I’m not talking about subscribers on the networks) than Messi in the lot of players with whom he could be in competition? Karim Benzema ? Kylian Mbappe ? They are no match for the immense career of Messi. Don’t forget that this trophy is awarded by the FIFA and not by l’UEFA. We are talking about the best player in the world of the season and not the best player in Europe. The individual statistics of the players at the World Cup make the difference. Remember that Karim Benzema did not participate in the World Cup.
A World Cup year always weighs in the balance. Even Ronaldo the Brazilian said it after the world, this trophy weighs 60% in individual awards. We have seen in previous years where Ronaldo Nazario (2002), Canavaro (2006), Modric (2018) didn’t have the stats for the year but were winners. The only exceptions were Messi (2010) et Cristiano Ronaldo (2014) who won the trophy without being flamboyant at the world. Life isn’t always fair. Lionel Messi finished fifth in the 2018 Golden Ball despite his individual statistics yet above all those who were in front of him.
Le seum de Karim Benzema
That said, we can not blame Karim Benzema for not having the seum by calling him selfish. We’re not going to tell him to play hypocrisy by congratulating Lionel whenhe is not happy and disagree with the results. It’s not selfishness. It is to show courage and wear your balls to say what others think but will never say it out of cowardice.
Even if taking out the World Cup statistics to also validate Lionel’s price does not hold water. Spain was also world champion but this year no player from the team won this trophy. Winning the world cup or even being the best player in the cup has never guaranteed anyone to win FIFA The Best. It is therefore useless to look for arguments to justify this or that part. This is how.
Only talent is not enough
Oui, Messi wrote a great story that even if in terms of performance over the year, many players today exceed him, as long as the vote is public, his fans will put him at the top of the votes. And these fans are in the players, the referees, the public… It’s the game. The dice may be loaded but it’s not really theft as many say. Besides, Eurosport shared the results of the vote .
We must also accept that players who feel aggrieved express their frustration in order to move forward. That’s why Samuel Eto’o is not the darling of world football authorities because he does not have his tongue in his pocket and does not hesitate to shoot live ammunition when he feels that his merit has been stolen from him.
Basically, talent alone is not enough. It’s important to have a big community. How do you see? Let’s talk about it in the comments…