This year's Ballon d'Or will be announced on the 30th of this month. However, before the announcement of the award, the name of Lionel Messi is heard as a possible winner. At the World Cup in Qatar, he is being kept ahead as Argentina won the title after 36 years. However, Earling Holland, who won Manchester City's treble, has made a strong claim as a rival.
Despite winning the league title in the last season at PSG, Messi could not shine in the Champions League. However, in the middle of the season, he won the title for Argentina in the World Cup in Qatar with the gift of dream football. Messi also won the Golden Ball as the best player in the World Cup with 7 goals and 3 assists. Many are predicting that Messi, who won the World Cup after 36 years for Argentina, will win the Ballon d'Or as the player of the season. In the meantime, Spanish media Dario Sport has leaked the results of the Ballon d'Or. They claim that Messi is winning this prestigious award for a record eighth time.
However, many people think that even if Messi wins the World Cup, the real claimant of this year's Ballon d'Or is Manchester City's Norwegian striker Arling Holland. Manchester City became the second English club to win the treble last season. After a hat-trick of Premier League titles, the Citizens also won the Champions League title for the first time. There is also the domestic FA Cup. And the biggest contribution to this success of the club is the goal machine Holland.
So Premier League club West Ham's striker Michail Antonio also believes that if Messi wins this year's Ballon d'Or by beating Arling Holland, it will be a 'scandal'. He thinks that Holland, who has scored 52 goals despite Messi winning the World Cup, is the real contender for the 2023 Ballon d'Or.
"I understand Messi winning the World Cup is a big deal, but you can't ignore a team winning the treble and how Holland has managed to break one record after another," Antonio said on the Footballer's Football podcast. He deserves this Ballon d'Or. If he doesn't get it, there will be scandal.'
Newcastle forward Callum Wilson also agrees with Antonio. He added, 'What Holland did last season cannot be ignored in any way. If you put international football aside and compare with statistics.........Holland should win. You can't ignore Messi winning his first World Cup because it's a big factor, but considering the club football he's in now in America, it's very different to the Dutch Premier League.'
After signing for City last season, Holland broke all previous records by scoring 36 goals in the league. He is also the top scorer in the Champions League. He has already won the UEFA best player award. He has also been nominated for the Ballon d'Or along with Messi, Kylian Mbappe and club teammate Rodri.
Messi on four months off from MLS
The Argentine superstar is taking a long break from club football for the first time in a two-decade professional football career. Basically, his team Inter Miami has to rest for the next four months after failing to make the playoffs of the MLS (Major League Soccer) Cup.
Messi hasn't had much rest from football since joining Barcelona's academy. Since 2003, he has played 899 matches at club level for Barcelona, PSG and most recently Inter Miami. However, this list does not include pre-season club friendlies. At the same time, he played 201 matches for the national team. He played an average of 55 matches a year for club and national team. More than one match per week.
But he will play only four matches in the next four months. Two club friendlies in China next November and the remaining two World Cup qualifiers for Argentina. But at this time there is no Miami match in the MLS league. Miami went on a four-month hiatus from the MLS after originally failing to make the league playoffs.
The MLS season usually starts at the end of February. The first phase of the league ends in October. There were a total of 29 teams in this year's MLS league. Of these, 26 are from the United States, and the remaining three are from Canada. Divided into two conferences by geographic location. Messi's club Inter Miami is one of 15 clubs in the Eastern Conference. The remaining 14 clubs are in the Western Conference.
In the first phase, each club plays a total of 34 matches. Each team will face teams in their own conference twice at home away. They play the remaining matches against teams from other conferences.
After 34 matches, the best 7 teams in the points table of the two conferences go directly to the final series. Supporters Shield is given to the best team according to the points list in the final series. The eighth and ninth ranked teams of each conference, i.e. a total of four clubs, play in the final series of playoffs. This entire round is called the MLS Cup Playoffs. Total 24 matches in playoffs. Round of 16, quarter, semi-final and final. The winner of the final will be the MLS champion.
In the first stage of the league, Miami did not make it to the playoffs of the final series as it finished the league at 14th in the points list of the Eastern Conference. However, Messi still had a chance. Winning the US Open Cup would have earned them a ticket to the playoffs. But Miami also lost that chance by losing the final to Dynamo on September 28. Due to which Messi is not getting any more matches in MLS before the start of the new season in February.
As a result, 36-year-old Messi is taking a long break to spend time with his family after a busy two-decade football career. The Argentine star said, "After a long time, I will be able to spend a peaceful holiday with my loved ones in December for the first time."
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