Lionel Messi’s Mum Admits To Being Surprised With Son’s Ballon D’Or Win

Lionel Messi’s mother, Celia Cuccittini, has admitted that she did not expect her son to win another Golden Ball when he won this award for the fifth time in 2015.

Barcelona’s Argentine star beat Liverpool’s Dutch quarterback Virgil Van Dijkn in the 2019 Golden Ball race, setting a new record as a six-time winner, while Cristiano Ronaldo remains with five.

And, despite the impressive records and performances the 32-year-old continues to make, his family did not even believe he would be named the best player in the world.

“I’m very happy, we didn’t expect him to win this award. We thought the fifth would be the last, so it was a pleasant surprise,” Cuccittini confessed, in an interview with CNN Radio Argentina.

“He always excites me. He has never stopped surprising us with what he achieves every day. And, what’s more important than all that, the main thing is the kind of person he is.”

Despite Messi’s accomplishments, he has been criticized by many locals over the course of his career, who claim that Messi does not do enough for the Argentine national team, but only for his club, Barcelona.

While Messi’s mother admits that no one is perfect, she believes the continued criticism that sets Messi apart from the entire Argentine team is unjust and wrongly done.

“You can criticize without insults and ridicule. As a mother, of course this hurts me. It’s normal that not everyone can like him. The whole family knows we owe a lot to Argentina. But would anyone want more than Messi to win the World Cup or the America’s Cup?” Cuccittini said.

“Of course they can criticize him when he plays poorly, so we do. We tell him when he plays bad, we always tell him.”