Which of these three World stars do you think deserves to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or award?
The FIFA Ballon d'Or shortlist was announced on Monday evening. Here
we look at the three contenders and ask if they deserve the award.
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CRISTIANO RONALDO
Odds: 1/6
The case for: Well, he is the incumbent, and as Sepp
Blatter has demonstrated, that counts for quite a lot in FIFA elections.
Seriously, though, Ronaldo is the best player on the planet on current
form and has already scored 20 Liga goals – putting him on course to
score around 60 in the league this season. Ronaldo set a new record in
the Champions League this year, scoring 17 goals to helpReal
Madrid achieve a historic Decima, and is performing at a level which has
arguably never been matched in football’s long history. Oh, and the
Real Madrid promotional machine has been working overtime in his favour.
The case against: The World Cup. As simple as that. Ronaldo scored just one goal in Brazil as a poor Portugal side
failed to qualify for the knockout stages. Fabio Cannavaro and the
original Ronaldo showed in 2006 and 2002 respectively how important a
good World Cup is when deciding who the best player in the world is. And
only last week Michel Platini said how he believed a “world champion”
should win the award in a World Cup year. Will that count against him
with the voters?
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LIONEL MESSI
Odds: 11/2
The case for: It says something that winning the Golden
Ball as the best player at the World Cup finals was one of the least
impressive achievements of Lionel Messi’s year. In the past month alone
he has become the all-time leading scorer in both La Liga and the
Champions League and he continues to torment defenders at home and
abroad. He hasn’t won a trophy with Barcelona this year but that didn’t
stop Ronaldo last year.
The case against: Sadly for Lionel Messi, both of his
record feats in La Liga and the Champions League came after voting
finished – and there was no repeat of last year’s events which saw FIFA
reopen the voting to allow Ronaldo’s incredible World Cup play-off
performance against Sweden to count. Furthermore, while Messi may have
starred in the World Cup finals, the actual final itself was a bitter
disappointment as he performed poorly in a loss to Germany. Add to all
this the fact he has clearly been inferior to Ronaldo, in terms of
goalscoring potency at least, across 2014 and you can see why Messi is
an outside chance to win a fifth Ballon d’Or.
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MANUEL NEUER
Odds: 8/1
The case for: Neuer is a World Cup winner who captured
the imagination of the football public in Brazil with some vivacious
displays. As well as making all number of key saves for Die Mannschaft,
Neuer thrilled with his interpretation of the sweeper keeper role,
hurtling decisively out of his box to confirm his status as one of the
best and most unorthodox keepers in football. His huge performances
between the sticks helped Bayern to win a domestic double last season
and at the weekend the Germans matched a Bundesliga record as they have
now conceded just three times in 13 games.
The case against: He is a goalkeeper. That’s not a
judgement on the position, just a reflection of historical fact. The
last time a goalkeeper ever made the shortlist was Gianluigi Buffon in
2006 – after winning the World Cup – and Lev Yashin is the solitary
winner of the Ballon d’Or award from the goalkeepers’ union back in
1963. As transfer fees and salaries demonstrate so perfectly, football
values goals more than it does clean sheets
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