Messi-led Argentina national team to play in Kerala next year
World Cup-winning Argentinian football team led by iconic Lionel Messi will play in Kochi next year, Kerala State Sports Minister V Abdurahiman announced on Wednesday.
The Portugal football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has had a say on what he thinks of his chances of winning the coveted Ballon d’Or ahead of players like Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Kylian Mbappe.
Ronaldo had changed bases to Italian heavyweights Juventus last season and even went on to win the Serie A season with them. He also ensured that Juventus lift the Italian Super Cup. Moreover, with his national team Portugal, he managed to add a UEFA Nations League title to his credit.
However, despite being in good form, Ronaldo could not help Juventus win UEFA Champions League which did a lot of harm to his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or for an unprecedented sixth time.
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Talking to reporters after he scored four goals in Portugal’s 5-1 thrashing of Lithuania in the Euro 2020 in Euro 2020 qualifiers, he said that he is not concerned about individual awards and recognitions as long as the team performs well. He, however, added that it would indeed be good to win the award again.
“As I always say, I don’t live football thinking about individual prizes,” he said as reported by Marca, a Spanish national daily sports newspaper.
“That comes as a result of what is won collectively. But it’s good, I won’t lie.”
With his four goals in the match, he also became the all-time leading goal scorer in Euro Qualifiers. He surpassed Keane’s tally of 23 goals and now stands at 25 goals.
“I feel good. I am proud to represent my national team. I’m not only happy because of the goals I’ve scored, but also because of the level the national team has been at in recent years,” he added.
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