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Diego Maradona slams FIFA for awarding Lionel Messi the Golden Ball award

Former Argentina legend Diego Maradona slammed FIFA for awarding Argentina’s Lionel Messi the Golden Ball award for the World Cup’s best player.

Zee Media Bureau/ Rajdeep Saha
New Delhi: Former Argentine legend Diego Maradona slammed FIFA for awarding Lionel Messi the Golden Ball award for the World Cup’s best player. Maradona clearly cited his views on Monday stating that Messi didn’t deserve the award. “Messi? I would give him heaven if possible,” the 1986 World Cup winner said on a television show on Telesur. “But it’s not right when someone wins something that he shouldn’t have won just because of some marketing plan.” Despite scoring four goals for Argentina, a cloud has intensified over Messi`s selection as the tournament`s best player. It is difficult to argue that he was the best player at the 2014 World Cup. Most importantly, Messi scored all four goals in the group stages. Argentina did not score in their final 240 minutes at the World Cup in Brazil. Several stars seemed to have given a better performance than the Barcelona forward. Netherland`s Arjen Robben, Germany`s Bastian Schweinsteiger and Messi`s teammate Javier Mascherano, all were top class in Brazil. The most important mention of all was Germany`s Tomas Mueller who scored five goals and was emphatic in the final too. But the Bayern Munich forward`s name missing out has come as a big surprise. The other two awards were rightly adjudged, but Messi`s choice has raised many eyebrows all over the world. Messi didn`t look at his best in Brazil and so did Argentina, who played below their standards up till the semi-final. May be the South American giants saved their best for the finals, but it wasn`t enough for them and neither for Messi. Germany were a side who had obliterated Portugal and Brazil. Argentina, on the other hand, had ground their way past Bosnia, Nigeria, Iran, Switzerland, Belgium and cautious Holland. Not just Maradona, but several experts are of the opinion that there were many more deserving players for the prestigious Golden Ball award.