On 12th December 2016, FranceFootball revealed a list of the top 20 footballers of the calendar year as voted by a panel of journalists and the pole position was taken by the Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, with the champions of Europe enjoying a good year. A list that saw Paul Pogba ranked higher than Toni Kroos and Luka Modric and did not feature the likes of Andres Iniesta at all.
It was surely bound to have some hard criticism against it, with such unignorable flaws that it showcased and would have caught the attention of every footballing fan across the globe.
The Portugal international was once again crowned as the “World’s Best Player for 2016” after he won the 2016 Euro Cup and the 2016 UEFA Champions League. However, the question arises, did he really deserve it? I think not. The Ballon D’Or was always a difficult award to understand even when there was a collaboration between FIFA and FranceFootball.
The ultimate reason for awarding a player for his individual efforts during the year had been ignored many times and more than ever in the result of the 2016 Ballon D’Or. Lionel Messi finished 2nd in the list even after having more Goals and Assists than Ronaldo. This was probably one of the best calendar yet that Lionel Messi had winning 3 trophies over Ronaldo’s 2.
Despite that, in the end the panel of journalists gave Ronaldo more votes than the top 20 combined which surprised me and many others.
The FranceFootball have to get their priorities of giving the award straight as Ronaldo was awarded the Ballon D’Or back in 2013, even though he won no trophies while Ribery had won a treble, which was totally unfair to the Frenchman back then.
I mean, who do you lose out on being the best player in the world, after winning three major titles in one calendar year. Shocking!!
So arguing that Ronaldo had more trophies than Messi in terms of magnitude is not even rational (Some people feel the UEFA Champions League is greater than the Liga and the Copa combined.) In the end, all that the Ballon D’Or could do is bring about a change in the trophy rooms of two of the best players in the world.
Other than that I don’t think this award which doesn’t have it’s priorities straight, should be taken seriously. The FIFA Best Player Award will be given out in January and I hope they have a better way of deciding a winner, and a better Top 20.
