We are racing into the latter stages of the year and football’s governing body (FIFA) is wasting no time in the attempt to reward the most impressive superstars for another term – recently releasing their final 3-man shortlist to compete for the Player Of The Year award.
For the first time in 10 years, Barcelona playmaker Lionel Messi was ignored on the final shortlist, with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, his ex-teammate Luka Modric and Liverpool maestro Mohamed Salah making up the final 3 contenders for the award.
Messi’s brilliance is taken for granted
Even heavens know quite well that Lionel Messi deserved to be named among the finalists for the FIFA award this term, but it now seems people have been so familiar with his incredible brilliance that they expect him to perform at an extra-terrestrial level before they give him the recognition he deserves. The Argentine ran riot throughout the previous season, tearing opposition defenses apart and adding a new dimension to football that made the sport look very easy and beautiful. He ended up winning the European Golden Shoe after outscoring every superstar on the continent with his amazing 34 goals in 36 appearances during the league campaign.
Domestic success doesn’t count anymore
One of the major reasons why many football fans have been so upset with FIFA’s decision to omit Lionel Messi from their final shortlist is because the association refused to recognize the incredible achievements of the playmaker in their decision-making.
The Argentine had a great outing with Barcelona last season, producing a lot of spectacular performances and leading the Catalans to claim both the La Liga title and the Copa Del Rey trophy during the campaign. As a matter of fact, he had a better domestic outing than all of the finalists, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, and Mohamed Salah all having nothing to show for their domestic campaigns.
Consistency seems to be worthless
Lionel Messi’s FIFA award snub has so many indications but one of the clearest ones is that consistency seems to be worthless at the moment, with the football governing body overlooking this important aspect of the game in its considerations.
The Argentine was arguably the most consistent performer in Europe last season, starting the campaign in an electrifying form and maintaining it till the very end. Barcelona completed a domestic coup during the term and they owe so much of the success to the playmaker who rose up at the vital moments and dragged them from victory to victory.