WORLD SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lionel MESSI
The best…masterful Messi
Scaling new heights
A
year on from Argentina’s defeat in the 2014 World Cup final, Lionel Messi is back on top of the world. The Barcelona and Argentina star is World Soccer’ss Player of the Year for a record fourth time, having previously won the award back in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Messi’s victory in 2015 means he overtakes his great arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo (winner in 2008, 2013 and 2014) and his predecessor at Barca, the Brazilian Ronaldo (1996, 1997 and 2002). Debate will, of course, rage as to who can lay claim to the title of the world’s greatest-ever player. While Argentina’s defeat in Brazil has ensured that World Cup winners Pele and Diego Maradona can still keep a hand on the crown, Messi did everything possible in 2015 to remind the world of his brilliance. A hugely impressive treble of Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey was complemented by the UEFA Super Cup and, at the year’s end, the Club World Cup. The only cloud on Barcelona’s horizon was a defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup. Even then, there was a silver lining as Messi’s goal in the second leg, albeit with Bilbao having taken a four-goal lead from the first leg, was one of six competitions in which he scored in
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PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Technique…wand of a left foot
2015
