Monday 14 July 2014
Lionel Messi has won the Fifa Golden Ball as the best player of World Cup 2014.
Messi, who won four man of the match awards throughout the tournament but did not influence the final against Germany in Rio de Janeiro in the way that he would have liked, was chosen from a 10-player list of candidates who were announced on the eve of the final, with seven of the nominees coming from the finalists, Argentina and Germany.
His man of the match performances came early in the competition against Switzerland, Nigeria, Iran and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Aside from Messi, Argentina had two nominees – Ángel di María and Javier Mascherano. Germany provided four candidates: Mats Hummels, Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Müller.
via: http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jul/13/lionel-messi-golden-ball-award-world-cup
