Sergio Ramos wants it, no British-based player seems to be any near it, and a German goalkeeper almost had it; Ballon d'Or is only for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Since 2010, Ballon d'Or has had Messi and Ronaldo written all over it, and it seems no one can get near the trophy as long as the two players are active. But are Ronaldo and Messi really the best players in the world? The question is raised every year.
This year Manuel Neuer was in the run for the title, but the keeper lacks something the two other players are masters at - scoring goals. It seems that in order to win Ballon d'Or you have to be a goalscorer. The last non-attacking player, which won the price, was Fabio Cannavaro back in 2006, and before Cannavaro, we have to go back to 1996 to find the defensive midfielder Matthias Sammer. Sergio Ramos announced that the title is as a goal for his career, but the trophy is arguably only for attacking players.
There is no doubt that Ronaldo and Messi are two important players for their respective teams, but are they really as decisive as Manuel Neuer is for Bayern Munich? Real Madrid has an overflow of talented wingers and attackers - with Ronaldo as the best - but still a team of strong individual players who can create and finish matches all by themselves. The same applies for Messi and Barcelona. However, in Neuer Munich has a world class goalkeeper who contributes to the play as a sweeper and creates the game from his part of the pitch. Is is a wonder to me why the best goalkeeper in the world could not win the title.
It seems that when the captains of the worlds national teams vote for their favorite of the three nominated players, they look at how much the player contributes in the last third part of the pitch and not in the first. It is a shame, isn't it?
As long as Ronaldo and Messi are active, no defensive player will ever get the chance of winning the Ballon d'Or... Sorry for the bad news Sergio!
