Brazil football legend, Rivaldo has tipped Lionel Messi for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award despite the Barcelona star failing at Copa America.
Messi helped Barcelona win the Spanish La Liga and scored 51 goals in all competitions.
His side lost out in the semi-final of the Champions League to Liverpool who went on to lift the trophy.
Another disappointment suffered by Messi this year is a third place match in the 2019 Copa America which saw him get sent off. This led him to lash out at the officiating and also CONMEBOL.
With this and more, Rivaldo, a former player at Barcelona, still believes the 32-year old Argentine is worthy of this year’s Ballon d’Or award.
“In my opinion, the Ballon d’Or of this season is Messi for what he has done,” the 1999 winner said, courtesy of Betfair.
“He didn’t win the Champions League, but because it is an individual prize he scored a lot of goals, important goals.”
Speaking on the comparison between Messi and Ronaldo, Rivaldo said:
“They are such great players. I like them both,” he said.
“Messi always makes the difference at Barcelona and Ronaldo at every club and the national team – Juventus and Portugal.
“It’s going to be thrilling again. When you talk about them it’s for something good, they both score so many goals.”