- Lothar Mathas believes that Erling Holland is a worthy prize winner
- Calling Lionel Messi’s success a joke, he said he was a fan of the legend.
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ’It’s all kicking off!’
Angel Di Maria has shamed Lothar Matthäus, who discredited Lionel Messi’s Ballon d’Or triumph, to the German giants to 'cry somewhere else’.
Matthäus refused to see Messi win his eighth Ballon d’Or award, calling the World Cup winner’s accolade a 'ridicule’.
He believes Erling Haaland is the deserved winner after his 52 goals helped Manchester City to the treble.
Holland has been better than Messi all year Ski Germany.
’Messi’s win was undeserved. But it shows that a World Cup is about more than anything else.
For me, Holland has been the best player of the last twelve months. He won major titles with Manchester City and broke goalscoring records in the process. For me, there is no way around Holland. The selection is a travesty even though I’m a Messi fan.’
His comments drew criticism from Messi’s fellow Argentine star Di Maria, who commented under one post: 'Cry somewhere else’ with a laughing emoji.
After winning the World Cup with Germany in 1990, Matthas won the Ballon d’Or.
He was also included in the 2020 Ballon d’Or Dream Team, which consists of the best players to win the award.
His support for Holland is understandable after the Norwegian scored 52 goals in all competitions for Manchester City, although Messi still reaches high performance levels.
The Argentine masterminded Argentina’s World Cup final victory in Qatar, scoring twice against France in a penalty shootout.
He scored 21 goals and registered 20 assists for PSG in all competitions and they won Ligue 1 before his move to Inter Miami.