Lionel Messi is the most successful player in the planet when it comes to FIFA Ballon d’Or awards.
He has won this accolade five times in his career, which is a new record. His closest competitor still playing the game is Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won the title three times. In the past eight seasons, these two players have shared with the title between each other. Kaka was the last player outside the duo to have won this title. It would be easy to say that Messi has been the best player in the world, but the Barcelona superstar disagrees with this comment.
He says that Ronaldo is also worthy of the titles that he has won. Ronaldo has been crowned as the best player three times in the history. On each occasion, he has scored more than Messi or has won the coveted Champions League title. Both players, however, have been disappointing when it comes to their performance with the national team. This did change in 2014 when Messi almost single-handedly helped his Argentina national team to reach the final of the World Cup. This achievement helped him win the fifthBallon d’Or award. It has been projected amongst the media that Ronaldo has made it an obsession to win this title whereas Messi is more focused on winning titles with his team.
"When Cristiano won his Ballons d'Or, he deserved them. They are decided on by managers, players, journalists and FIFA, making the winner a deserved one.He had earned his award every single time he has won it," said Messi. Both players will be coming up against each other once again when Real Madrid host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu this weekend. Madrid needed a win at all costs in order to close the 10 point advantage that Barcelona have right now.
