Lionel "Good Boy" Messi

       There is no doubt that Lionel Messi is one of the greatest players of our time, but the real question is: Does he deserve all four Ballon d'Or? The answer is NO. Last year, Messi won the 2012 prize for his outstanding performance, yet his team did not win the league. It was Ronaldo who led Real Madrid to victory in "La Liga" during the 2011-2012 season. Messi did not even lead Barcelona to Champions league glory, Chelsea beat them in the final that year. Some fans argue that he deserved the award because he broke the goalscoring league record. However, when Cristiano Ronaldo broke that same record one year before, Messi had also been awarded the Ballon d'Or. So why is Messi worshipped so much? The answer lies in his decorum


       Everybody loves him and thinks of him as the poor guy who grew up with growth hormone deficiency. They think of kid who was given a once in a lifetime opportunity and signed his first contract on a napkin. The general audience feels empathy for him and his initial struggles in life. Messi is also, in the eyes of many (not me), a very humble player who cares for others.

There was a recent outrage in which even Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, favored Messi over Ronaldo. During an interview he was asked by a student to choose between Messi or Ronaldo, his response was actually quite expected. He said: "They are both exceptional players but they are totally different...Lionel Messi is a good boy who every mother and father would like to have at home." Here we begin to see why most people tend to prefer Messi. But wait, there is more. "he's a kind man, he's really good, he's a good boy. And that's what makes him so popular and naturally he will always get a lot of votes because he is this nice man"

AHA! This is the reason for his four Ballon d'Or. Messi has been crowned the best player beacuse of his popularity and because the media has began to overlook his flaws rather than putting his performance under a microscope. This just goes to prove the power of decorum and how it can persuade people.