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.
2019 Ballon d’Or is the next big thing in the world of football. The winner is set to be announced on 2 December. While Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk are among the favourites, to lift the coveted trophy on Monday, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, and Sadio Mane also remain in the race. Meanwhile, reports have revealed the final position of Ronaldo in the standings set to be released on 2 December.
According to a report carried by Mundo Deportivo, the Ballon d’Or organizers are trying hard to convince Ronaldo to attend the award ceremony scheduled in Paris on Monday. This is because Ronaldo is expected to skip the event since he will be finishing third behind Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk.
If this indeed happens, this will be the second year in a row that Ronaldo will be absent from the prestigious award ceremony. Notably, both Messi and Ronaldo were absent from the 2018 Ballon d’Or award ceremony after Luka Modric was given the award ahead of them.
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Fresh reports in Spain suggest that Ronaldo has already been informed that he will be announced the winner in the ceremony. Messi has reportedly been informed earlier to prepare for the official ceremony on 2 December.
If the reports turn out to be true, Messi will lift his record sixth Ballon d’Or becoming the first man on the planet to do so ahead of his long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo who has bagged five such awards till date.
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