Fifa president Sepp Blatter says he was “a little bit surprised” Lionel Messi was named the World Cup’s best player.<\/p>\n
Messi was awarded the Golden Ball after Argentina’s 1-0 loss to Germany in Sunday’s final in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n
Blatter believes Messi was given the award on the strength of his four goals during the group stage.<\/p>\n
Argentina legend Diego Maradona also felt Messi was a surprise choice, claiming Colombia’s James Rodriguez performed better in Brazil.<\/p>\n
Maradona, who was named the best player when Argentina won the World Cup in 1986, said “marketing people” had chosen the wrong man and called the decision “unfair”.<\/p>\n
The Golden Ball and other individual prizes, such as the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper, are decided by Fifa’s Technical Study Group, a panel including former Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier.<\/p>\n
Messi set up his side’s winner against Switzerland in the last 16 but was only a sporadic threat in the semi-final against Netherlands, which Argentina won on penalties after a 0-0 draw.<\/p>\n
The Barcelona star then missed a clear chance in the final, when put through on goal by Lucas Biglia.<\/p>\n
Messi told Spanish newspaper AS: “Right now I don’t care about the prize. I wanted to take Argentina to the World Cup for all the people.”<\/p>\n
Rodriguez finished as the competition’s top scorer, with six goals from five games as Colombia reached the quarter-finals, where they lost to hosts Brazil.<\/p>\n
Fifa’s Technical Study Group awarded the Silver Ball – for the tournament’s second-best player – to Germany forward Thomas Muller, with Netherlands attacker Arjen Robben winning the Bronze Ball.<\/p>\n
Germany’s Manuel Neuer collected the Golden Glove, while France midfielder Paul Pogba was named the tournament’s best young player.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC Sport<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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