Tag Archives: 1986 World Cup

Lionel Messi Earns Record-Extending Eighth Ballon d’Or

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Lionel Messi has extended his record…

The 36-year-old Argentine soccer star, who currently plays for Inter Miami CF, has won the Ballon d’Or for a record eighth time, after leading Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title last year.

Lionel Messi

Messi, who beat out Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, becomes the first Major League Soccer-based player to claim the coveted prize, although the triumph comes largely on the back of his exploits with his country in Qatar.

Former Manchester United player and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham handed his prize-signing Messi the award in Paris.

Haaland, who scored 52 goals last season as Manchester City won the Treble in 2022-23, finished second in the voting and won the Gerd Muller Trophy given to the best striker of the year.

“I couldn’t imagine having the career that I’ve had. Everything that I’ve achieved,” Messi said after getting his award. “The fortune I’ve had playing for the best team in the world, the best team in history. It’s nice to win these individual trophies.

“To win the Copa America and then the World Cup, to get it done is amazing. All of them [Ballon d’Or awards] are special for different reasons.”

Prior to Messi receiving his award, Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí won the Ballon d’Or Féminin after a record-breaking year with club and country. She helped Barça win Liga F and the Champions League last season, before leading Spain to World Cup glory in the summer.

In other awards handed out on Monday, Messi’s Argentina teammate Emiliano Martinez won the Yashin Trophy for best goalkeeper and England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was handed the Kopa Trophy as the world’s top player under the age of 21.

During his acceptance speech, Messi made a point of wishing Argentina countryman Diego Maradona happy birthday. The 1986 World Cup winner, who died on November 22, 2020, would have been 63 on Monday.

“My last mention is for Diego [Maradona],” Messi said. “Today is his birthday. So I would like to remember him from here, surrounded by the best players, coaches and people who love football like he did.

“Wherever you are, Diego, happy birthday. This goes also to you.”

Even prior to Monday’s ceremony in Paris, no player had won the Ballon d’Or more times than Messi, who first won it in 2009 and then again in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021.

Cristiano Ronaldo has won it five times, while Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff and Marco van Basten are all three-time winners.

Messi scored 21 goals in 41 appearances last season as Paris Saint-Germain retained the Ligue 1 title before moving to Inter Miami earlier this year.

Since moving to the U.S., he has scored 11 goals in 14 games for Miami, helping the franchise win its first-ever piece of silverware, the Leagues Cup.

However, he missed several matches through injury at the end of the regular MLS season as Gerardo “Tata” Martino‘s side came up short in their late push for a playoff spot.

It is Messi’s performances at the World Cup at the end of 2022 which have earned him an eighth Ballon d’Or, though, as Argentina ended a 36-year wait to be crowned world champions for the third time.

Messi, as captain, was instrumental to Argentina’s success in Qatar, scoring seven goals and assisting three more as he was named as the Player of the Tournament.

He scored twice in the final and again in the penalty shootout against France as Lionel Scaloni‘s team edged one of the most memorable showpieces in the competition’s history.

Having come up short with Argentina at four previous World Cups, including losing the 2014 final to Germany, it was deemed by many to be his last chance to get his hands on football’s biggest prize.

At 36 years and four months old, he also becomes the second oldest player to ever win the Ballon d’Or, replacing last year’s winner Karim Benzema. Only the inaugural winner, Stanley Matthews in 1956, was older when he won it aged 41.

Messi’s first six Ballons d’Or were won while he played for Barcelona, where he is the club’s record goalscorer and appearance holder, while he won it for a seventh time shortly after joining PSG in 2021 following Copa America success with Argentina.

Diego Maradona’s Likeness Could Grace Argentina’s 1,000-Peso Note

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Diego Maradona could be making money moves…

An Argentine senator wants to put Diego Maradona on the country’s bank notes and presented a project to Congress on Monday to get the late soccer star and possibly even his “Hand of God” image on a 1,000-peso note.

Diego MaradonaThe note, worth around $12.27 at Monday’s exchange rate, would feature Maradona’s face on one side and a picture of one of his most famous goals on the other, said the bill’s sponsor Senator Norma Durango.

Maradona, who died on Nov. 25, had two of his most famous goals come in the 1986 World Cup quarterfinal against England as they went on to win world football’s biggest prize.

Diego Maradona

He got the first by punching the ball past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and the second by dribbling past half the England team to score what is still considered one of the greatest goals of all time.

“The idea is not just to recognize our most important idol but also to think of the economic question,” said Durango. “We feel that when tourists come here they will want to take a ‘Maradona’ away with them.”

Although it was not clear which one of the two goals would feature, some Argentines bristled at the thought of the “Hand of God” goal featuring on an official government document because it could be seen as condoning illegality.

The Senator for the La Pampa province said the final decision would be made by lawmakers, who are expected to hear her proposal early next year.

“The idea is to recognize Maradona, for good and for bad, who is the best known Argentine in the world,” Durango said. “I feel the project has got a great response even though some people don’t agree with it.”

The current 1,000-peso note features the national bird, the Rufous hornero.

Telefe to Produce Television Project About Soccer Legend Diego Maradona

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The story of Diego Maradona’s life is headed to the small screen…

Telefe, Argentina’s leading television network, will bring to the screen the life of the 55-year-old soccer legend in an ambitious production aimed at the global market.

Diego Maradona

One of Argentina’s greatest living heroes, Maradona’s life is the stuff of legend and melodrama. From rags to riches, he suffered the pressures of fame. His career could have been far more successful if it had not been for a brutal Italian defense in the 1982 World Cup and, in latter years, a battle against drug-dependency.

Maradona captained the Argentine soccer team that won the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and was a finalist in Italy four years later. He helped top clubs such as Boca Juniors in Argentina, Barcelona in Spain and Naples in Italy to national championships, scored mesmerizing goals, and pulled off sleights of hand on the field – his so-called Mano de Dios goal against England – which are among the top highlights of the most popular sport in the world.

Diego Maradona

Drug use sparked suspensions, the most crucial at the 1994 World Cup. In 2000, a cocaine overdose reportedly nearly killed him, prompting him to enter rehab in Cuba.

“Every month of my life has enough for someone to write 100 chapters. Everything that I lived exceeds any fiction. I’m happy and excited that Telefe is developing this project for the world. It is the story of my life,” Maradona said in a statement.

“This is an incredible challenge as a producer to think about turning into fiction the life of the best soccer player of all time, and probably the most famous person in the world,” said Telefe contents and international business director Tomas Yankelevich.

“We think of a unprecedented super-production, and for that we are looking for partners to join us. We expect to make a global content without borders,” he added.

Telefe’s Yankelevich and Maradona recently inked their production alliance. Large questions remain to be answered such as if the fiction which Telefe describes will have a conventional feature structure or also incorporate some form of longer television format.

Another question about the Maradona project is what active involvement the soccer star will have in the project. Maradona was one of the first modern soccer stars to have his failings exposed to the mass media. The question many will be asking is what kind of man lies behind an unquestioned and colorful soccer genius.