Lionel Messi was awarded the “Champions of Champions” sportsman of the 12 months award by French publication L’Equipe on Friday for his performances with Argentina that led his nation to World Cup glory.
Voted by the journal’s workers, the award has been round since 1946 – and has been open to athletes from outdoors France since 1975 – however strict judging requirements have made it troublesome for these taking part in staff sports activities to win. This 12 months, nonetheless, the highest 2 had been each from soccer.
Messi gained the award with 808 factors and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate was greater than 400 factors behind with 285. Tennis participant Rafael Nadal, after his double Grand Slam profitable season, bike owner Remco Evenepoel and two-time reigning Formulation 1 champion Max Verstappen made up the remainder of the highest 5.
L’Equipe has a status for being significantly harsh when judging footballers – their notorious score system after each main European or worldwide match resulted in no score for Olivier Giroud and Ousmane Dembele after the World Cup ultimate. The final footballer to win the award was really Lionel Messi in 2011 after Barcelona’s treble season, making him the one participant within the sport to win it twice.
Messi joins compatriot Diego Maradona (1986), Paolo Rossi (1982), Romario (1994) and Zinedine Zidane (1998) as the one footballers to have acquired the award. The frequent thread between all of them – every of them led their respective nations to World Cup glory that 12 months.
Within the current previous, feminine tennis gamers have dominated the award, with Novak Djokovic profitable it final 12 months, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal every profitable 4 instances and Serena Williams profitable the ladies’s award thrice. Observe and discipline athletes and Formulation One drivers have been the opposite common winners, with Michael Schumacher and Simone Biles profitable three every, whereas Usain Bolt holds the all-time document with 5.