Argentina star Lionel Messi didn’t deserve the Golden Ball award given to the World Cup’s top player – according to his country’s greatest player, Diego Maradona.
The outspoken Maradona suggested Messi’s individual hardware was rigged.
“Messi? I would give him heaven if possible. But it’s not right when someone wins something that he shouldn’t have won just because of some marketing plan,” the 1986 World Cup winner said on his television show on Telesur.
Messi was presented with the award after Argentina’s 1-0 loss to Germany in the final in Rio de Janeiro, beating out stellar performers such as the Netherlands’ Arjen Robben, Colombia’s James Rodriguez and Germany’s Thomas Mueller.
Despite scoring four goals in seven matches, the Barcelona star was not at his best during the knockout stages. The Golden Ball wasn’t much consolation to Messi.
“Right now I don’t care about the prize,” Messi told Spanish newspaper AS. “I don’t care about anything. I wanted to take Argentina to the World Cup for all the people.”