Lautaro Martínez talks about the Ballon d'Or race: 'Sometimes I feel underestimated'

In recent years, Inter Milan's Lautaro Martínez won the World Cup and the Copa América in the United States. The Argentine also played in his second Champions League final in three years, but again missed out on the top three for the Ballon d'Or. In an interview with France Football magazine, the Inter Milan striker confessed that he believes he deserves more recognition.

"Being among the 30 candidates (for the best player award) is already a reward, but I dream of winning. Sometimes I feel underestimated, but at 28, I'm very happy with my career because I've always progressed. I expected to finish higher in the standings after the season I had between Serie A and the Copa América, but I respect the judges. It will be difficult to surpass seventh place in the 2024 Ballon d'Or," said the Argentine.

The player was nominated for the 2024 award for his performance in the 23/24 season. After all, he was the top scorer in the Copa América and the top scorer and star player in the Italian Championship, with 24 goals. However, he was left out of the main race, as Vini Jr. and Rodri emerged as the winners in the analysis, with the Manchester City midfielder winning.

Lautaro currently has four nominations for best players, his highest finish being seventh, after finishing 21st in 2021 and 20th in 2023. He is among the finalists for the 2025 edition, the ceremony for which is scheduled for September 22 at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

Numbers by selection

In the 3-0 win over Venezuela in the qualifiers, the athlete surpassed Maradona in Argentina's scoring charts. After all, he is now the fifth-highest scorer with 33 goals, while Diego has 32.

"I aspire to be more recognized. I'm among the five best strikers in the world for what I've done in recent years. I don't know if Messi was right in saying I deserved more than Rodri, but for me the individual awards are important," he told France Football, before recalling the Champions League final against PSG.

"There were five days when I wanted to talk to people, to my teammates, but nothing came of it. I was blocked, a little anxious, sad. We had had a great championship, a great run to the final, but in the last game we always lacked something to achieve our ultimate goal. We knew PSG would be a tough team; they were a solid team and had a lot of confidence. But so were we," he concluded.

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