Lionel Messi winning the Ballon d'Or was absolutely not deserved, asserts Toni Kroos

The 34-year-old achieved one of his lifelong dreams as he secured the Copa America for his country this summer, as they beat Brazil in the finals. Messi along with Robert Lewandowski were the favourites for the prestigious award this year and the Argentine was able to beat his competition and secure the Ballon d’Or on Monday night. Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos insisted that Messi winning the prize was the wrong decision and revealed that Karim Benzema or Cristiano Ronaldo would have been the better pick.

"It's absolutely not deserved. "There is no doubt that Messi, with Cristiano , has been the player of the last decade, but this year there should've been others ahead of him. For me, Karim would have been the number one if you were really looking for the best individual player of the last year, because I can see from close quarters what an outstanding footballer he is," Kroos said in his podcast.