Atlanta United star Thiago Almada has said Lionel Messi deserved to win the Ballon d’Or amid claims that the Inter Miami star should not have won.
Speaking to TyC Sports, the Argentine international publically backed his 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning teammate when asked if Messi deserved to win his eighth Ballon d’Or award last month.
Almada said: “We all know that Messi deserved the Ballon d’Or, there will always be comments from people who want to appear on TV.”
A rival MLS player with Atlanta, Almada was part of the Argentina squad that won their third ever World Cup in Qatar last year, with Messi the star of the tournament for the South American nation.
And it is perhaps no real surprise that Almada has now publically backed Messi when asked about his Ballon d’Or win, even with the youngster playing for an MLS rival in the Five Stripes.
Indeed, whilst Erling Haaland could not have done anymore in his quest to win soccer’s biggest individual prize, Messi was always going to claim top honors given his mythos and what happened in Qatar.
Messi’s final Ballon d’Or win could be his most memorable
Any player winning the Ballon d’Or eight times in their career is almost ludicrous to even imagine, yet Messi has managed just that in his incredible soccer story.
And his final award could be his most memorable, with no other active MLS player yet to win a Ballon d’Or in the competition’s entire history.
Mess falling off his peak will always be a sad sight to see, though there’s no denying that the forward deserved this year’s award, despite what critics have to say.