As he went onstage to receive his Golden Ball award, Argentina captain Lionel Messi looked like he wanted to be elsewhere.

His team had just lost the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final, but he had been selected as the tournament's most valuable player. But in this moment, as he received the accolade, he looked embarrassed. Almost as if he knew that this reward was not only worthless, but undeserved.

And therein lies a huge question: was he really the most valuable player in the tournament?

Unlike years past when the award was voted on by members of the press, the Golden Ball was selected by a FIFA committee. So, objectivity could have been thrown out the window in this case.

Why? Four years ago, Diego Forlan was selected as the tournament MVP during the final. But his Uruguay side had finished fourth and he was not around to accept the award. The other top contenders in this tournament included Colombia's James Rodriguez, the Netherlands' Arjen Robben and a quartet of Germans. Rodriguez and Robben were already back home and would not be around to accept. But Messi, the four-time Ballon d'Or winner (a FIFA award, by the way) and the man known the world over as the finest of our time, was playing in the World Cup Final and would be around to take the crown. He is also a major promoter for Adidas, an official sponsor for the World Cup. A publicity stunt? Probably.

And that is really all it was. Because the numbers and the performances themselves do not indicate that Messi was far and away the best player in the entire tournament.

Goals are arguably the most important of statistics and Messi is well-known for scoring them amply. But in this tournament, he was not the top goal scorer. He had four goals and one assist; James Rodriguez had six, while Germany's Thomas Mueller had five goals and eight assists. Admittedly, Messi did score two game-winners and all four of his tallies either extended or gave Argentina the lead (Rodriguez scored only one game winner while Mueller scored the defining tally twice in the tournament). But after the group stage, which featured games against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran and Nigeria, Messi's goal scoring streak disappeared altogether. In the knockout round, Messi did not score a single goal; he has never scored in the elimination matches in three World Cups. He did provide the assist for Angel Di Maria's winner against Switzerland and helped in the run-up to the winner against Belgium. But his effectiveness diminished as the tension built. His performance against the Netherlands was decent at best. He made solid passes throughout, but he was not particularly effective at penetrating the Dutch defense and was invisible for most of the night.

And then came the final. The game that would have defined his legacy.

Messi barely showed up.

Obviously, playing on the counter was going to hurt his possession play that he is so used to succeeding with at Barcelona. He did get a nice run up the pitch that led to a quasi-scoring chance. But aside from that display in the first, Messi was absent for long spurts. He finished the night with only four shots at the goal, none of them actually on target. His passing success was at a mediocre 70 percent and his influence on the game was minimal at best. He had a big moment to produce the equalizer in the waning seconds as he received a free kick just outside the area. It was a spot from which he had scored on many times before, but in his defining moment, Messi did the unthinkable. He fired the ball way over the net. He wasn't even close.

And that about sums up his World Cup. Not even close.

Messi had a chance to cement his legacy. He was in the final. But he was never close to being the man that could dominate the game. He had the chance to run away with the Golden Boot after the first round, but he was not even close in the knockout games. Argentina's victories, which relied so much on Messi in the group stage, no longer became about Messi in the latter stages of the tournament. The team adopted a defensive scheme that actually ran counter to Messi's possession game. Argentina saw less of the ball against Germany, Holland and even Belgium. And it worked. It was Argentina's best chance at winning the tournament. But not Messi's.

The Golden Ball, while undeserved, is a consolation for Messi at the big tournament that he has not conquered and may likely never conquer. In four years, when the 2018 World Cup rolls around, he will be 31. The rest of Argentina's golden generation will also be 30 or more. And the Argentine well has seemingly dried up in the youth system.

This was his chance. He gets a trophy he likely never should have gotten to make up for the one he could not earn. And may likely never earn.