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In the famous The Debate section of the November 2023 issue of FourFourTwo magazine, two journalists Matthew Ketchell and James Andrew had a heated debate about the biggest event at the end of the year in world football: the Award Ceremony. Golden Ball Award 2023, with two number-one candidates – Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland.
- First, let’s listen to writer Ketchell – who worked at Sky, BBC, and now FourFourTwo – present his argument about El Pulga.
Over the past year, Messi has had contrasting performances. But all in all, I still hope to one day tell my unborn children about the feeling of watching the greatest player play football. That said, it will mainly be to satisfy yourself instead of looking for admiration.
Even in his old age and often “walking” on the field, Messi fascinates us. His speed and acceleration have decreased, but his technique and of course, his competitive thinking are still extremely sharp.
The Ballon d’Or award was created to honor the football player who is said to have performed the best in a year. Erling Haaland’s achievements are remarkable. I am also a big fan of the tall blond “robot guy”, and wanted him to pass the milestone of 40 goals in the National Championship last season – an unimaginable number to achieve at any level. But to be fair, Haaland benefits a lot from an effectively built team to “prepare the steak” for him to cut and eat. And despite his best efforts, Haaland still cannot carry Norway in the international arena; Still unable to get the national team past the World Cup or EURO qualifiers.
Meanwhile, certainly, without Messi, Argentina would not have won the World Cup. Many times they are eliminated right from the group stage. Messi’s presence has pushed the winning rate up, even in every moment.
But the reason I support Messi to win his eighth Golden Ball is not entirely based on emotions. His positive statistics over the past 12 months have increased: Messi is the first player in history to ever score in the group stage, the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final of a World Cup. Cup. At the festival in Qatar, El Pulga scored 7 goals (only 1 goal behind top scorer Kylian Mbappe), contributed 3 assists, and won the title of Best Player of the tournament.
At the club level, Messi pocketed the Ligue 1 championship with 21 goals and 20 assists in 41 matches with PSG. That achievement and the crazy spillover effect he brought to America are not trivial…
- On the other hand, let’s listen to Andrew – who used to work at Infostradar, Daily Mail, BEAT, and now FourFourTwo – defend “client” Erling Haaland.
Everyone pointed to Messi and said he was the “patron saint” who helped Argentina win the world championship. I agree, but those were seven games in which they lost to Saudi Arabia and had to take penalties to get past the Netherlands; similarly, it was France in the final.
In Qatar, Messi won the Silver Boot and became the first person to win the World Cup Golden Ball twice in history (the first time was in 2014) – so it’s fair to say he had an outstanding tournament. sharp. I’m not here to undermine or downplay the achievements of this superstar. They are extraordinary and Messi is probably the greatest to ever play football.
But for the Ballon d’Or award, where we consider what happens over a full 12 months – in that period alone, in my opinion, Haaland is the clear and even choice. is obvious.
The Norwegian could not participate in the World Cup because his team could not qualify. That was the only ripple in the past year, otherwise, his image would have been so bright it was blinding…
After joining Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund last summer, Haaland scored 52 goals in 53 matches at the club level, helping his new team defend the Premier League throne, win the FA Cup, and especially win the Premier League. The final piece in the historical puzzle – winning the Champions League for the first time.
Haaland is the fastest player in Premier League history to score 30 goals – after only 27 appearances, and impressively passed other milestones: Scoring 10 goals in 6 matches and 20 goals in just 14 matches. He also finished last season as top scorer in both the Premier League (with 36 goals) and Champions League (12 goals). And oh, he also contributed 9 assists in all competitions.
The striker born in 2000 was awarded the title of Best Player in the Premier League 2022-23 by the PFA (British Professional Footballers Association) and the Football Journalists Association – recognized by both colleagues and public opinion. Receiving another Golden Ball will officially open Haaland’s peak and explosive period.
Messi has collected all the “7 Dragon Balls”, does he need an 8th Golden Ball to add to his greatness? This year, if possible, let’s mark the beginning of Haaland’s long era of dominance, of a new generation and a new era!
