According to coach Jose Mourinho, Lionel Messi deserved to win the Golden Ball in 2010, even though he won fewer titles than Inter’s key midfielder at that time, Wesley Sneijder.

On February 15, in former midfielder Rio Ferdinand’s podcast, when asked about the opinion that Messi “stole” Sneijder’s 2010 Golden Ball, Mourinho replied: “I don’t want to say it was robbed. Ai won it. Messi. Then there was no robbery.”

According to Mourinho, with the achievement of winning the treble and reaching the World Cup final in 2010, Sneijder deserves to be in the Top 3 Golden Balls. However, during that period, Messi’s individual performance had a huge impact on the votes. “Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo never robbed anyone of winning the Golden Ball,” Mourinho added.

Mourinho (left) talks with Messi during the 2010 Champions League semi-final between Barca and Inter at Camp Nou. Photo: AFP

In 2010, Sneijder and Inter won the treble of Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup. Mourinho was Sneijder’s teacher at that time. The former midfielder also helped lead the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final, where they lost 0-1 to Spain. Meanwhile, Messi only won La Liga. He and Barca lost to Inter in the semi-finals of the Champions League, before joining Argentina in a 4-0 defeat to Germany in the quarter-finals of the World Cup. In return, Messi ended the 2009-2010 season with 47 goals, including 34 La Liga goals, scoring both goals in the 2-0 win over Real Madrid and four goals in the 4-1 win over Arsenal.

In the 2010 Golden Ball voting , Messi won with 22.65% of the votes. Andres Iniesta ranked second with 17.36%, Xavi ranked third with 16.48%, while Sneijder finished fourth with 14.48%. In a recent interview, Sneijder reiterated: “It’s a bit unfair that I didn’t win the 2010 Golden Ball, while Messi was the winner.”

Messi has won a total of eight Golden Balls in the years: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023. Ronaldo ranked second with five titles: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Three former Famous players ranked third with three Golden Balls, including Johan Cruyff, Michel Platini and Marco Van Basten.

In a recent interview, Mourinho also regretted never coaching Messi. He believes that the Argentine striker has the ability to bring new knowledge to the coach about how to move, coordinate, pass the ball and finish.