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#3 Best Player at Copa America 2021
This summer was a special one for Lionel Messi on the international front. His illustrious career deserved a major international trophy. It looked like Messi would stop at nothing to win the tournament right from when he walked out with La Albiceleste this summer.
Messi scored four goals and provided nine assists in seven appearances in the continental competition. He also created six big chances and played as many as 21 key passes over the course of the tournament.
Messi also won possession seven times in the final third, and completed 4.8 dribbles per game at a success rate of 68%. It's clear from these stats that Messi turned in well-rounded performances at the Copa America and he was quite simply the best player in the tournament.
#2 Most man of the match awards in the 2020-21 season
Man-of-the-match awards are a good measure of how consistent and dominant a player is over the course of a season. In that regard, no other player in the race for the Ballon d'Or even comes close to Lionel Messi.
According to Whoscored.com, Messi won a whopping 22 man of the match awards in the 2020-21 season in La Liga. The second player on the list is Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane, who won 13 man of the match awards in the Premier League last term.
Lewandowski, who is Messi's biggest rival in the race for the 2021 Ballon d'Or, won just 11 man of the match awards in the 2020-21 Bundesliga season.
#1 Winning Copa America
Winning the Copa America has to be Lionel Messi's crowning achievement this year. It is a competition that has given Messi several heartbreaks. But he was determined to turn it around this time as he won the title with the national team. To cap it off, Messi was named the best player at the tournament.
At the end of the 2020-21 club season, it didn't look like he would be the favourite to win the Ballon d'Or. However, he turned it around in the summer by guiding Argentina to continental glory.
Players need to win major trophies to boost their credentials in the Ballon d'Or race. Copa America is a major title and Messi immediately became a frontrunner for the Ballon d'Or after winning the continental competition.
Not only did Messi simply win the Copa America but he was also the best player at the tournament.
