Blatter: Messi Didn't Deserve World Cup 2014's Golden Ball

Fifa president Sepp Blatter does not believe Lionel Messi deserved the World Cup 2014 Golden Ball award for being the best player at the tournament. Quite a few eyebrows were raised when the Argentina forward was handed the award after his team were beaten in the final, despite having had relatively little impact compared to team-mates and opponents since the group stage - where he had unquestionably starred - had finished. Blatter, who has said in the past that he thought Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had earned the accolade, slammed the award process only a few hours after Messi was named among the 23-man shortlist for the Fifa Ballon d'Or.