What's the story?
Zurich is the venue where the FIFA awards are going to take place on January 9 with most of the attention being on who will win the Best Player of the Year accolade. Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Antoine Griezmann are in the running for the prestigious gong and with this prize being the inaugural FIFA award, extra importance has been added to the ceremony on the ninth of this month.
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Sergio Aguero in an interview with the governing body's website has claimed that his national teammate, Messi deserves the award for a successful 2016 and also called him "the best in the world." He said, "Messi is the best in the world. He's ahead of the rest, including the other nominees. He does things I don't see anyone else doing.”
In case you didn't know...
The three candidates running for the top prize each had a wonderful 2016. Messi was the highest scorer of the previous calendar year with 51 goals and also won his eighth La Liga title. Cristiano Ronaldo won the Champions League and the Euros with Portugal to cap off an eventful year.
He also won the Club World Cup in Japan. Griezmann helped his club and country reach two finals but ended up on the losing side on both the occasions.
Also Read: Video: Football - Most emotional moments in 2016
The heart of the matter
Aguero believes that only Messi deserves to win FIFA's accolade after experiencing his qualities up close and personal. The striker justified his choice for the trophy by saying that the Barcelona man deserves it thoroughly for his feat in 2016 and not because of the friendship between the two.
The Manchester City forward described Messi's humble nature as the reason for his greatness. In his interview to FIFA.com, Aguero gave examples of Lionel Messi’s nature and also said that the dribbling trait of the 29-year-old is at an altogether different level.
Afer a six years partnership to award the best player of the year award with Ballon d'Or, FIFA has parted ways with the French Football award and now will host its own version of the awards ceremony to celebrate the success of players throughout the calendar year.
What next?
The inaugural version of FIFA best player of the year award will see the two best players in the world go head to head again for an individual gong which will provide a new talking point in this age-old debate between the two giants of modern football.
Sportskeeda's take
Lionel Messi is the frontrunner to win FIFA's accolade and though the decision may face the backlash from Ronaldo supporters even after a successful year, it is completely justified to give Messi the award by looking at his statistics from 2016. Such is the brilliance of the Argentine phenomenon that despite not winning major trophies last year, he is being projected as the best player of 2016.
