Lionel Messi and FIFA Puskas Award: Can the left-footed Maestro finally win the elusive accolade in 2019?
Lionel Messi, the diminutive Barcelona captain has transpired into one of the greatest footballers of all-time, ever since his phenomenal rise to prominence with the Catalan club, that took off exponentially in the latter half of the last decade.
He is a very well-rounded athlete and it would be tricky to single out his greatest strength, one of the best attributes of his game is his penchant for scoring seemingly simple, but technically rich goals.
So, its no wonder why the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is the most nominated player in the history of FIFA Puskas Award, that was established on 20 October 2009 on the behest of former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, with him making it into the Top 10 seven out of the ten occasions.
But, surprisingly, in its decade long history the honor has never been bestowed upon the world famous No.10 even once.
FIFA finds a player worthy of the award who has scored "An aesthetically beautiful goal" and based on that merit, just a glance into Messi's 603 goals would be enough to bring forth a couple of goals worthy of making it into the best goals of all-time, let alone best goal of the year.
The reason why his omission so far at the award comes across as a much bigger surprise than it should is that, the 32-year-old is one of the most naturally gifted players of our generation and has wowed us over and over again with an array of exquisite goals perfectly executed to find the back of the net, with such an uncanny ease, as if he's controlling the ball with invisible strings.
So, despite his eye-catching goals, right from the typical left-footed curlers, to the occasional unstoppable runs from the halfway mark and the inch-perfect free-kicks, why does Barcelona and Argentina's Messi remains deprived of the Puskas Award?
A quote from the Great Italian polymath of the Renaissance Leonardon da Vinci sums up his style of play and goalscoring ways perfectly.
'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.'
Though his strikes aren't the most flashy ones, with the most power, the most swerve, the longest ones or involving outrageous flicks or overhead finish, they are usually the most satisfying to watch going into the net. And on the top of it he makes them look simple.
The Argentinean scores so many of great goals season in and out that he has now set a completely different bar for himself. It seems we have accepted his strikes as being the norm rather than the exception.
Just take a look at hat-trick sealing goal against Real Betis on 17 March 2019, that has earned him a record-extending seventh nomination this year. Though his free-kick against Liverpool is what many fans actually wanted in the list.
It was the deftest of the lobs from just inside the left-hand side of the box that went in via the crossbar following a quick one-two with teammate Ivan Rakitic. As always, Messi looked effortless dispatching it, but what went behind it including his intelligent positioning and just the right amount of weight in the ball is what makes it so special.
Let's head a little into the past and find out how close the La Masia graduate has come to winning the award.
He earned his first nomination in the top 10 at the second edition of awards in 2010, but his strike couldn't make it the top three and went unranked. He faced similar fates in the 2011 and 2012 editions.
He didn't make it into the top 10 yet again in 2013 and 2014. But following his incredible solo run from half-line against Athletic Bilbao in the Copa Del Rey final in 2015, that saw him take on and run rings around four defenders to finally beat the goalkeeper from close-range, he was all but assured of the honor.
Alas, it was a relatively unknown player in Wendell Lira who beat him to it, with an equally audacious overhead kick and a second-placed finish that year is the closest he came to the coveted trophy since.
Coming back to the present, having won the Best Goal in Barcelona's history, UEFA Goal of the Season 2018/19 as well as the UEFA Champions League Goal of the tournament 2018/19 earlier this year, will Lady Luck continue smiling on him and let him continue his streak of honors or will his luck finally run out?
Also the important question here is now that his UCL free-kick against Liverpool didn't make the cut, will the goal that earned him a standing ovation from a packed Estadio Benito Villamarín be enough to help Messi add the goal-shaped trophy named after the Hungary legend to his collection?
We will find out later this year, whether it will be in the tenth edition of the ceremony which recognizes the world-renowned No.10 with the award. Fans have until the midnight of September 1 to cast a vote for their favorite goal.