Lionel Messi just took home his 5th Ballon d’Or, more than any other player in history. He is being hailed as the greatest player of all time, again. The world of football is his oyster today, but still he still feels he lacks something according to Messi's comments on the Ballon d'Or.
Messi detractors will always bring up his failure to win a World Cup with Argentina, and it seems that Messi believes that this is a serious shortcoming as well. So much so that he would choose one World Cup trophy over all 5 of his Ballon d’Ors.
"I would prefer to win a World Cup rather than five Ballons d'Or if I had to choose," Messi said at a news conference before the 2015 Ballon d’Or ceremony. "I have always said that I prefer team achievements and the World Cup is the biggest trophy out there."
Messi believes that, because football is a team sport, the individual awards given out to the game’s best players are not as important as the trophies won by best teams. That he values five Ballon d’Or wins as much as one World Cup win puts into perspective just how much more Messi cares about the latter.
Messi looks at the World Cup trophy as he walks past it to recieve his runners-up medal. Photo: @FQanini | Twitter
That’s not to say that Messi was not happy when he was announced as the winner of the 2015 Ballon d’Or.
"It's a very special moment for me to be back here on the stage,” he said upon receiving the award. “Winning again after being in the audience to see Ronaldo win for the last two years.”
"It's incredible that it's my fifth. It's much more than I ever dreamed of as a kid.”
He will just be that much more happy if he ever gets to lift a World Cup trophy.
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