MIAMI, United States. — The Argentine Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain) and the Spanish Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona) received this Monday the The Best award that is given annually by the International Association Football Federation (FIFA).
“La Pulga” ended up beating the Frenchmen Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) and Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) in a ceremony that saw most of the protagonists of the World Cup in Qatar as winners.
“It is a pleasure to be back here among the three finalists, with Benzema and Kylian. It is an honor to be back at this gala and to be a winner again. I want to thank my colleagues, along with Scaloni and ‘Dibu’, we are representing them. This is the recognition of the entire group for what we did”, Messi said in his award acceptance speech.
The striker, who was not among the nominees for the prestigious Ballon d’Or -delivered to Karim Benzema in October- due to his discreet first season with PSG, was the great star of the last World Cup, of which he was voted best player .
“I was able to achieve my dream after looking for it so much, fighting so much. It is the most beautiful thing that happened in my career. Very few can get it and thank God I was able to get it, ”she said.
With his second The Best Messi Award, he reached the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo (2016 and 2017) and the Pole Robert Lewandowski (2020 and 2021) as the top winners of the trophy. The other player who received it was the Croatian Luka Modric in 2018.
In the female branch, the winner was Alexia Putellas, who won the award despite having been injured since last July, which forced her to undergo surgery. Unlike Messi, the Spanish had obtained the Golden Ball in October for his performance in the previous season.
At the ceremony, a special tribute was made to the deceased former Brazilian player Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Peléconsidered by many the best footballer of all time.
Lionel Messi and Alexia Putellas had also been selected best athletes of the year 2022 worldwide, based on the survey carried out by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), in which 420 journalists from 130 countries participated.
