Previously the result of a poll between the world's press and FIFA's Technical Study Group, Messi's surprise win was the consequence of analysis by the latter body solely after football's world governing body changed the voting process for the tournament in Brazil.

He went to the final, which is one of the conditions for the attribution of the trophy

thegoodjoehunt:

[b]Indirectly, Gerard Houllier and his corrupt friends, changed the criteria to suit Messi. You guys decided to reward Messi with an award he did not merit. These guys destroyed the hard work of people to give Messi the glory.

I used to respect this man called Gerard Houllier.

DISGRACE.

timbros: Hmmm na wa for the this people o.

So Robben didn't carry his team? Wow! I'm just hearing this now. Robben that destroyed Spain, Mexico etc? OK o.

What of Muller? So with his 5 goals and assists plus work rate in the victorious German team, he is not worthy of the golden ball? OK, that one aside.

Please can someone tell me how Messi carried Argentina to the final? 4 goals in the group stage, abi? How many of his goals helped them from second round till finals? You guys are forgetting that its the Argentine defensive line that conceded 0 goal from second round that helped them a lot. Pivotal in that defensive line is the beast, Mascherano.

This explanation by Houlier goes to show you how controversial the award is. How many other golden ball winners have FIFA come out to explain why that person is worthy? Yes, other awards have their own critics because we all have our opinions BUT Messi winning 2014 golden ball award? Only FIFA and a Messi fan boys agree. The whole footballing world has a different opinion.

Dhulqarnain: Lionel Messi created 26 goalscoring chances at d world cup,the most.The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with 19.He also had d 2nd highest numba of through balls behind Andrea Pirlo.

Lionel Messi completed 46 dribbles at d WC,the 3rd highest in WC history(afta Maradona with 53 in 1986,nd Jairzinho with 47 in 1970).The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with just 29.

He averaged 6.6 dribbles per game,d next person is Alexis Sanchez with 5.5.

Lionel Messi won d most man-of -d match awards at d world cup with 4.

Lionel Messi ws d 4th most fouled player at d WC with 26,behind Sanchez(34),Neymar(35) n Robben(31).

Lionel Messi scored 4 goals at d WC,only behind James(6) nd Muller(5).Considering d fact dat Messi ddnt enjoy d space dis guys had,as he ws man-marked in almost every game,that ws still an impressive achievement.

For those who think he ddnt carry d team,Lionel Messi's 4 goals meant he scored half of Argentina's goals at d WC,nd ws involved in 6 of dia goals.He scored 4 goals frm 23 shots,while his oda attacking mates(Higuain+ Lavezzi+ Palacio+ Aguero) scored a total of 1 goal frm 34 shots.

For those who think Messi doesnt mark,Lionel Messi won d ball 4 times in a attacking third at d WC,only 5 players had more in d tournament.

According to Opta nd Whoscored.com,who considered all d little details n facts,Lionel Messi was d best player at d world cup.With these facts and more,it is had to disagree..

Now show me sm1 with better WC stats,or sm1 with stats as gud as dat,then we can argue @thegoodjoehunt and co

Dhulqarnain:
Robben ddnt destroy Mexico,he only dived against Mexico.

Messi scored half of his team's goals,so he truly carried dem.

You hate Messi so u will always complain abt d award.Ddnt u also complain wen he won d ballon d'or in 2010 sayin Sneidjer ws deserved it more? I bet u ddnt say anytin wen trophyless Cr7 won it ahead of Ribery in 2013

Dhulqarnain: Lionel Messi created 26 goalscoring chances at d world cup,the most.The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with 19.He also had d 2nd highest numba of through balls behind Andrea Pirlo.

Lionel Messi completed 46 dribbles at d WC,the 3rd highest in WC history(afta Maradona with 53 in 1986,nd Jairzinho with 47 in 1970).The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with just 29.

He averaged 6.6 dribbles per game,d next person is Alexis Sanchez with 5.5.

Lionel Messi won d most man-of -d match awards at d world cup with 4.

Lionel Messi ws d 4th most fouled player at d WC with 26,behind Sanchez(34),Neymar(35) n Robben(31).

Lionel Messi scored 4 goals at d WC,only behind James(6) nd Muller(5).Considering d fact dat Messi ddnt enjoy d space dis guys had,as he ws man-marked in almost every game,that ws still an impressive achievement.

For those who think he ddnt carry d team,Lionel Messi's 4 goals meant he scored half of Argentina's goals at d WC,nd ws involved in 6 of dia goals.He scored 4 goals frm 23 shots,while his oda attacking mates(Higuain+ Lavezzi+ Palacio+ Aguero) scored a total of 1 goal frm 34 shots.

For those who think Messi doesnt mark,Lionel Messi won d ball 4 times in a attacking third at d WC,only 5 players had more in d tournament.

According to Opta nd Whoscored.com,who considered all d little details n facts,Lionel Messi was d best player at d world cup.With these facts and more,it is had to disagree..

Now show me sm1 with better WC stats,or sm1 with stats as gud as dat,then we can argue @thegoodjoehunt and co

No matter what you say, haters will still come in droves. That's what they do.

Awesome stats! I always knew there was something the technical crew saw that the average football watcher will never notice.

Good job, buddy.

timbros:

Robben destroyed Mexico. Yes he dived in the last minute but he was a thorn in the flesh of the Mexicans all afternoon.

Messi scored half the teams goals...in the group stage. Against the lowest ranked team, debutants and a below average SE.

When the going gets tough, where was Messi and his goals?

I don't get it why Barca fans always resort to "you hate Messi" line whenever one argues against him. Do you guys really understand what 'hate' means?

joseph1013:


No matter what you say, haters will still come in droves. That's what they do.

Awesome stats! I always knew there was something the technical crew saw that the average football watcher will never notice.

Good job, buddy.

Baddestguyp: thanks jare. Im waiting for haters to come nd dispute this

Dhulqarnain:
Robben ddnt score or assist in dat game, so I dnt get hw he destroyed dem.He ws nowhere to be found in d 1st half.
Dnt 4get dat since afta d 2nd group game against Australia,Robben ddnt manage to find d net again in d tournament.
Considerin d fact that Argentina only scored 8 goals in d whole tourney,Messi's 4 goals were very important,unlike Holland who scored 15 goals with Robben managin jst 3. Messi ws nt only dia highest goalscorer,but their chief creator.Evn dough he ws man-marked against Holland,he still had d most dribbles with 8 nd still created gud chances 4 d likes of Aguero nd Maxi.Robben cud only manage 1 pass in d whole of d 1st half nd his 1st shot on target came in d 99th min,an easy catch 4 Romero.Durin pk,Messi stepped up 2 score d 1st pk 4 Arg,Van Gaal revealed dat 2 of his senior players refused to take d 1st pk,and I am pretty certain dat Robben ws one of dem.Vlaar went on to lose nd d rest is history.
The stats agree with Messi,all d matches were considered,not jst d final.The likes of Muller nd Robben ddnt play any beta dan Messi in d knock-out stages.

Dhulqarnain: Lionel Messi created 26 goalscoring chances at d world cup,the most.The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with 19.He also had d 2nd highest numba of through balls behind Andrea Pirlo.

Lionel Messi completed 46 dribbles at d WC,the 3rd highest in WC history(afta Maradona with 53 in 1986,nd Jairzinho with 47 in 1970).The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with just 29.

He averaged 6.6 dribbles per game,d next person is Alexis Sanchez with 5.5.

Lionel Messi won d most man-of -d match awards at d world cup with 4.

Lionel Messi ws d 4th most fouled player at d WC with 26,behind Sanchez(34),Neymar(35) n Robben(31).

Lionel Messi scored 4 goals at d WC,only behind James(6) nd Muller(5).Considering d fact dat Messi ddnt enjoy d space dis guys had,as he ws man-marked in almost every game,that ws still an impressive achievement.

For those who think he ddnt carry d team,Lionel Messi's 4 goals meant he scored half of Argentina's goals at d WC,nd ws involved in 6 of dia goals.He scored 4 goals frm 23 shots,while his oda attacking mates(Higuain+ Lavezzi+ Palacio+ Aguero) scored a total of 1 goal frm 34 shots.

For those who think Messi doesnt mark,Lionel Messi won d ball 4 times in a attacking third at d WC,only 5 players had more in d tournament.

According to Opta nd Whoscored.com,who considered all d little details n facts,Lionel Messi was d best player at d world cup.With these facts and more,it is had to disagree..

Now show me sm1 with better WC stats,or sm1 with stats as gud as dat,then we can argue @thegoodjoehunt and co

Dhulqarnain: Lionel Messi created 26 goalscoring chances at d world cup,the most.The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with 19.He also had d 2nd highest numba of through balls behind Andrea Pirlo.

Lionel Messi completed 46 dribbles at d WC,the 3rd highest in WC history(afta Maradona with 53 in 1986,nd Jairzinho with 47 in 1970).The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with just 29.

He averaged 6.6 dribbles per game,d next person is Alexis Sanchez with 5.5.

Lionel Messi won d most man-of -d match awards at d world cup with 4.

Lionel Messi ws d 4th most fouled player at d WC with 26,behind Sanchez(34),Neymar(35) n Robben(31).

Lionel Messi scored 4 goals at d WC,only behind James(6) nd Muller(5).Considering d fact dat Messi ddnt enjoy d space dis guys had,as he ws man-marked in almost every game,that ws still an impressive achievement.

For those who think he ddnt carry d team,Lionel Messi's 4 goals meant he scored half of Argentina's goals at d WC,nd ws involved in 6 of dia goals.He scored 4 goals frm 23 shots,while his oda attacking mates(Higuain+ Lavezzi+ Palacio+ Aguero) scored a total of 1 goal frm 34 shots.

For those who think Messi doesnt mark,Lionel Messi won d ball 4 times in a attacking third at d WC,only 5 players had more in d tournament.

According to Opta nd Whoscored.com,who considered all d little details n facts,Lionel Messi was d best player at d world cup.With these facts and more,it is had to disagree..

Now show me sm1 with better WC stats,or sm1 with stats as gud as dat,then we can argue @thegoodjoehunt and co

Dhulqarnain: Lionel Messi created 26 goalscoring chances at d world cup,the most.The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with 19.He also had d 2nd highest numba of through balls behind Andrea Pirlo.

Lionel Messi completed 46 dribbles at d WC,the 3rd highest in WC history(afta Maradona with 53 in 1986,nd Jairzinho with 47 in 1970).The nearest person to him ws Arjen Robben with just 29.

He averaged 6.6 dribbles per game,d next person is Alexis Sanchez with 5.5.

Lionel Messi won d most man-of -d match awards at d world cup with 4.

Lionel Messi ws d 4th most fouled player at d WC with 26,behind Sanchez(34),Neymar(35) n Robben(31).

Lionel Messi scored 4 goals at d WC,only behind James(6) nd Muller(5).Considering d fact dat Messi ddnt enjoy d space dis guys had,as he ws man-marked in almost every game,that ws still an impressive achievement.

For those who think he ddnt carry d team,Lionel Messi's 4 goals meant he scored half of Argentina's goals at d WC,nd ws involved in 6 of dia goals.He scored 4 goals frm 23 shots,while his oda attacking mates(Higuain+ Lavezzi+ Palacio+ Aguero) scored a total of 1 goal frm 34 shots.

For those who think Messi doesnt mark,Lionel Messi won d ball 4 times in a attacking third at d WC,only 5 players had more in d tournament.

According to Opta nd Whoscored.com,who considered all d little details n facts,Lionel Messi was d best player at d world cup.With these facts and more,it is had to disagree..

Now show me sm1 with better WC stats,or sm1 with stats as gud as dat,then we can argue @thegoodjoehunt and co

timbros:

I give up.

So you don't know that Robben's penalty against Mexico is an assist?

Now I know who I'm arguing football with.

Again, i give up.

thegoodjoehunt: [b]If you want to go by Stats, Messi still would not have gotten the award. It was a case of clear corruption.

*****

Stats don’t lie: Toni Kroos was the best player in Brazil, but Lionel Messi wasn’t even in the top ten



Germany’s star midfielder Toni Kroos was statistically the best player in the tournament, according to the Castrol Index, the FIFA approved ranking of World Cup players.

The Bayern Munich play-maker, expected to complete a move to Real Madrid this summer, achieved a stunning score of 9.79 out of 10 for his performances in Brazil.

The criteria for the score includes passes, tackles, ground covered and, of course, goals. The results make for interesting reading.

Here are the top ten, with perhaps the most notable omissions being golden ball winner Lionel Messi, Germany’s captain Philipp Lahm and golden boot winner James Rodriguez.

Toni Kroos (9.79) – the Germany pass master excelled, scoring twice in the 7-1 semi-final victory over Brazil and displaying his creative brilliance throughout the tournament.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/07/14/stats-dont-lie-toni-kroos-was-the-best-player-in-brazil-but-lionel-messi-wasnt-even-in-the-top-ten-4798149/

So even by Stats as people try to justify the Golden Ball to Messi injustice, that point does not stand.[/b]

thegoodjoehunt: What do you mean by shots? So that should be the criteria for selecting the golden ball? Do you know that some of the so called created chances by Messi are corner kicks?

Leave these jokes. It was clear corruption.

Dhulqarnain:
The likes of Kroos,Robben,James nd Pirlo also played corner-kicks 4 dia countries,so whats ur point?
Messi also played thru-balls,not jst corner-kicks.
Who do u think shud av won d golden ball instead?

thegoodjoehunt: You guys are funny. The head of the group that gave Messi the Golden Ball is saying the criteria was changed. That means, going by the normal criteria, Messi would not have won the Golden Ball.

They came out with the Finalists criteria, why stop there? It was done to deny James Rodriguez the Golden boot. Why did they not make it a winner. Why must it be a finalist?

Leave all those stats story. It has never been done like that for the Golden boot. Did Forlan use stats to win? Or Zidane? It was changed for Messi. Simple and short, they cheated.

Dhulqarnain:
I cudnt get through to d site.Why dnt u list his stats here?
4 a rating dat doesnt include Messi,Lahm nd James in top 10,u shud knw its crap.

Dhulqarnain:
No1 ws cheated,and if d award ws for finalists alone,den why were d likes of James,Robben nominated? Messi had d most votes,simple.Nobody deserved it more.If u think otherwise,tell me why,dnt jst say dey cheated.
Forlan's stats in 2010 were impressive,and he ws d best player of d tounament,likewise Zidane.
Let me ask u dis questn,if Messi had won d world cup,wud u av questned his golden ball award?

thegoodjoehunt: Messi took the highest amount of corner kicks. So that is why he has the highest chances created. That doesn't mean he was doing some genius stuff creating chances.

In open play, ROBben had the most crosses and created the most chances in open play.

Dhulqarnain:

no much diffrence btw crosses nd corner-kicks.Messi had more through balls dan Robben

thegoodjoehunt: [b]You call the approved Fifa rating Crap? Stop being ignorant. Statistics has not been used to judge the Golden ball winner. If you go by stats, Messi would not win the Golden ball. That makes the whole Golden ball award even more fishy.

Toni Kroos (9.79) – the Germany pass master excelled, scoring twice in the 7-1 semi-final victory over Brazil and displaying his creative brilliance throughout the tournament.


Arjen Robben (9.74) – Kroos’ Bayern team-mate enjoyed an excellent tournament for Holland, sometimes playing as a centre forward as well as his traditional wide berth and scoring three times.


Stefan de Vrij (9.7) – the Dutch centre-back formed part of a solid back-three unit, keeping four clean sheets and recovering more balls (58) than anyone else in the tournament.


Mats Hummels (9.66) – the imperious Germany centre-back scored two headers in impressive victories over Portugal and France and proved to be a colossus at the heart of the champions’ defence.


Thomas Muller (9.63) – Germany’s attacking all-rounder came one goal short of Rodriguez’s golden boot tally but his hard-running and goal-scoring exploits ensured he made the top five.


Karim Benzema (9.6) – France’s talismanic striker is the only non-semi-finalist to make the top ten, which is largely due to his 25 shots on target – although he only scored three goals.


Oscar (9.57) – Brazil may have exited after two abysmal performances but the Chelsea man’s earlier performances were enough to impact on Castrol’s index – he made more tackles (11) than anyone else.


Thiago Silva (9.54) – the hosts’ captain was sorely missed when Germany ran riot, and his defensive brilliance, including seven blocks, sees him join Oscar in the top ten.


Marcos Rojo (9.51) – the sole Argentine in the top ten, the Sporting Lisbon left-back was seen as a weak link before the tournament but he excelled, recovering 46 balls, and forming part of a gritty defensive unit.


Ron Vlaar (9.48) – you’d have been laughed out of town if before the tournament you predicted an Aston Villa player to make this kind of list, but the hard-man centre-back was phenomenal in Brazil, marshalling Holland’s back three and attempting more clearances than anyone else.

You can see the ranking from the official FIFA site below.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/statistics/castrol-index/ranking.html[/b]

thegoodjoehunt: There is a whole lot of difference. Corner kicks, you do not have to work hard to take it. It is a dead ball. Crosses, takes you out running, beating your marker to put it in. A player like Lavezzi can win a corner and Messi has to go and take it.

Dhulqarnain:
U said shots ddnt matter yet Benzema is on d list.Oscar? because of tackles? Why wsnt Messi there because of dribbles den? Once again,crap list.D list ws made by Fifa yet some of d players ddnt make it to team of d tournament.smh...

thegoodjoehunt: Read Gerard Houllier's comment again. The nomination took place name the criteria was changed which guided the voters to vote for Messi.

Dhulqarnain:
Hw many chances dd Robben create from open play?