Sepp Blatter and Diego
Maradona have admitted they were surprised to see Lionel Messi awarded the
prize for the best player at the World Cup.
World Cup - Blatter ‘surprised’ by Messi
award, Maradona labels decision ‘unfair’
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Don’t blame Messi for Argentina defeat.
Messi picked up the
prestigious Golden Ball accolade on Sunday night shortly after Argentina had
lost the World Cup final to Germany.
Messi scored four goals in
the group stages, but, other than a strong first-half showing against Belgium,
the Barcelona star failed to live up to his billing in the knockout phase.
The Argentina captain
missed a good chance to win the final in the Maracana in the second half,
dragging his shot wide when through on goal.
And FIFA president Blatter
conceded he was surprised FIFA's technical study group had given the Argentina
skipper the prize.
"I was myself a
little bit surprised when I saw Messi coming up to collect the best player of
competition," said the head of FIFA, who was handing out the awards in the
stadium after the match.
[MOURINHO: DON’T BLAME
MESSI FOR ARGENTINA DEFEAT]
Holland's Arjen Robben,
Colombia striker James Rodriguez and now World Cup winner Thomas Muller were
among the front-runners for the award.
Blatter believes it was
Messi's magic early on in the tournament, when he scored crucial goals against
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran and Nigeria, that led the committee to pick Messi as
their star man.
"If you compare the
beginning of the tournament and why finally the Argentina team got into the
final, they were decisive and I think it was a decision (based on that),"
Blatter added.
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David James and Opta both
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Maradona won the same
accolade as Messi in 1986, but, unlike his compatriot, he left the tournament
with a World Cup winners' medal around his neck.
The outspoken former
Argentina skipper feels Messi did not deserve to win the award.
''I would give heaven and
earth to Leo, but when marketing people want him to win something he didn't
(deserve to) win, it is unfair,'' Maradona said.
''I could see that he
didn't want to go up and collect it (the award).''
Maradona was right, Messi
could not have cared less about winning the Golden Ball - he admitted as much
after the match.
"In these moments,
the prize doesn't interest me at all," Messi said a few minutes after
Mario Gotze's 113th-minute winner which decided the final in Germany's favour.
"We wanted to take
home the trophy and enjoy it with all the people in Argentina.
"It's very painful to
lose in the manner that we did because we were so close to penalties."
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Messi was not the only man
to miss a good chance in the Maracana on Sunday.
Gonzalo Higuain missed an
easier opportunity in the first half and in extra-time Rodrigo Palacio nodded
wide when through.
Messi wishes either he or
one of his team-mates had found the net.
"They had more of the
ball, but we had the better chances," he said.
"I think that at the
end we didn't get the luck that we needed. The chances we created were clear.
"We had three clear
ones - mine, the one of Higuain and Rodrigo, but we could not finish them. Now
we have to move on."
Javier Mascherano admitted
immediately after the match that he felt "immense pain".
But, after being given a
few minutes to reflect on Argentina's first run to the final in 24 years, the
Barcelona midfielder was a little more upbeat.
"We are out, but
everything that we have been through in the last 34 days will help us keep
growing," Mascherano said.
"As a group we are a
unit, we are unstoppable and we have shown that.
"We were at a low but
we ended up playing a World Cup final against Germany and we had a real chance
of winning.
"The players have
grown, they have developed out here. We all fought with our heart and we were
just five minutes short. It will be hard for us to pick ourselves up after
this. It's a big blow because we had it in the palm of our hands, but it's been
a great World Cup."
