The biggest news in the world of football this week was the FIFA Football Awards. The world’s governing body announced their recipient of The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award, going to Cristiano Ronaldo, with Lionel Messi coming in second.
Leo, however, was not present at the gala to congratulate his Real Madrid rival. Hours before the event, Barcelona announced that none of their players would be attending the affair, underlining preparation for a crucial Copa del Rey clash as their reason.
That decision, which Cristiano Ronaldo was saddened by but claimed to find understandable, disappointed some of the beautiful game’s legends. The first of many to slam La Pulga for not attending the award show was fellow Argentine Diego Maradona.
The World Cup winner felt that the 29-year-old’s absence did nothing to help his odds of beating Cristiano to the prize. Maradona told TVE (as per ESPN): "I'm disappointed with Messi, from watching television at home you cannot fight anything or anyone -- here you can fight.”
It didn’t stop there, as two Real Madrid greats also expressed their disappointment in Messi and Co. For Blancos defender Solgado aimed his frustrations mainly at the Blaugrana, saying:
"Barcelona are wrong for not sending their best players.
"I know that the club has had issues with FIFA in the past but Barcelona needs to understand that FIFA is changing. This is not how you expect one of the world's biggest clubs to behave."
The Catalan giants play Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday with a 2-1 deficit. Real Madrid, who were present for the gala, have an extra day and a 3-0 lead heading into the return leg, but this didn’t matter to Brazilian icon Roberto Carlos.
"Cristiano has learned the importance of this and I think Leo also needs to learn that he must be here. This has to change," he said.
"Real Madrid also have a match this week but they are well represented in Zurich. The obligations to win for both clubs are the same."
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