It would be fair to say that the decision to award Lionel Messi the 2021 Ballon d'Or has not gone down well, and Toni Kroos is the latest player to voice his condemnation.
The Germany international said the award for Messi "was absolutely not deserved" and believes that his Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema should have claimed top spot in the voting process.
"It's absolutely not deserved," Kroos said on his official podcast.
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"There is no doubt that Messi, with Cristiano [Ronaldo], 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 added.
Benzema claimed fourth spot in the voting for this year's prize which is awarded by France Football magazine, behind Jorginho in third and Robert Lewandowski in second.
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The 33-year-old has made a strong end to 2021, and scored 16 goals in 18 games across all competitions this season. This includes five goals in as many Champions League appearances, and 11 goals in 13 La Liga outings.
The remaining top ten places were taken by N'Golo Kanté (fifth), Cristiano Ronaldo (sixth), Mohamed Salah (seventh), Kevin De Bruyne (eighth), Kylian Mbappé (ninth) and Gianluigi Donnarumma (tenth).
But despite Kroos' calls for Benzema to win the Ballon d'Or, there was huge outrage that the golden ball wasn't awarded to Lewandowski.
The Poland captain and Bayern Munich frontman scored an astonishing 64 goals across 54 games for club and country in 2021, winning another Bundesliga title and the German Supercup.
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Meanwhile, Messi also won two trophies this calendar year, which included the Spanish Cup at Barcelona and the Copa America with Argentina - his first international title.
Messi may have been the winner on the night, but the controversy surrounding this year's Ballon d'Or looks set to rumble on.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, Ballon d'Or, Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema