Lionel Messi Is Rewarded
The French publication L’Equipe presented the ‘Champions of Champions’ award to Lionel Messi for his performances with Argentina that led his country to World Cup glory. This award is presented to the best athlete of the year. Lionel Messi was recognized for his contributions to Argentina’s success at the World Cup.
Since 1946, the award has been given out by the magazine’s staff, and it has been accessible to athletes from countries other than France since 1975. However, the rigorous judging criteria have made it difficult for those who compete in team sports to take home the prize. However, both of this year’s top two winners came from the sport of football.
Messi was the clear winner of the award with 808 points, while his colleague at Paris Saint-Germain finished in second place with 285 points. Messi won by a margin of more than 400 points. After a season in which he won both the men’s and women’s Grand Slam singles titles, tennis star Rafael Nadal, cyclist Remco Evenepoel, and two-time defending Formula One champion Max Verstappen rounded out the top 5.
Lionel Messi
Their controversial rating method after each major European or international games led in Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele being given no rating after the World Cup final. L’Equipe have a reputation for being exceptionally tough when grading players, and they have earned this reputation. Lionel Messi was the first player in the history of the sport to win the award more than once; he was the recipient of the award for the second time in 2011 after Barcelona completed a season in which they won all three titles.
Messi is the only player to be awarded the honour; the others being Diego Maradona (1986), Paolo Rossi (1982), Romario (1994), and Zinedine Zidane (1998). Messi is a member of Argentina’s national team. The one thing they all had in common was that they were the ones who guided their country to victory in the World Cup in that particular year. Tennis players have dominated the award in recent years, with Novak Djokovic taking home the trophy for the most recent year, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal each receiving the honour four times, and Serena Williams taking home the women’s award for a total of three times. Athletes in track and field events and drivers in Formula One have been the other regular recipients of this award. Michael Schumacher and Simone Biles have each won three, while Usain Bolt holds the record for the most wins with five.