The Football Oscars 2017 - What if FIFA gave out the Academy Awards?

#4. Award for Best Drama – Lionel Messi

From a happy beginning of the year to an incredibly sad intermission scene, to a farcical beginning of the second half all the way to a brilliant conclusion – all via a ridiculous blonde hairstyle – the Lionel Messi saga had it all.

He won the double with Barcelona, before inspiring Argentina to the final of the Copa America Centenario – where he then proceeded to miss a crucial penalty in the shootout. This led to a massive backlash in his home nation, and Messi sensationally quit the national team, citing the inability of AFA to do anything systematically as the main reason behind the decision.

A month later, he rescinded the decision and came back to put on the Albiceleste jersey and then played brilliantly in the World Cup qualifiers – especially the crucial match against Bolivia. He’s also single-handedly keeping a shoddy Barcelona outfit in the title race against a rampant Real Madrid.