The World Cup 2014 tournament has Germany as the champions, but Argentina star Lionel Messi was crowned as its best player over Thomas Muller and James Rodriguez, as he won the FIFA Golden Ball award despite not scoring in the knockout stage and while he was very impressive, something feels off about a German player not winning and Diego Maradona came out to blast FIFA, saying the award was a marketing ploy.
According to Pro Soccer Talk, Messi won the player of the tournament award after his performance in Brazil, scoring four goals and coming through on a crucial assist in the knockout stage. Messi was basically shut down because of how much attention he got from defenders and that was one reason why he didn't score in the final three matches for his team. Argentina made a great run to the final and it came on rival soil in Brazil and now he heads home with the FIFA player of the tournament.
Germany had some options in Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller, while James Rodriguez was fantastic and he heads home with the Golden Boot. Messi had the chance to be one of the best players ever with a win here and while he is one of the best players in the world, he has not reached that legend status yet and that could have happened with a World Cup win.
Diego Maradona reportedly said that he thinks the award is a sham and that is nothing against Messi, but he felt that FIFA gave it for arbitrary reasons. Maradona praised Messi and his play, but said that the award should have went to someone else, as Messi did not score since the group stage and his team lost, making it another FIFA winner of the award not winning the World Cup.
