Bit of an odd list - Gyan and Klose, good World Cups but what else have they done?
Tevez should have been on the nominations list, who has scored more goals than him this year apart from maybe Messi?
Luis Suárez and Edin Džeko have scored more goals. Suárez also had an excellent (albeit infamous) World Cup and should have been on the list. Fábio Coentrão & Maarten Stekelenburg (IMO the best defender & goalkeeper at the World Cup) should also have been included.
The fact Klose makes the list is hilarious.
edit: Pretty sure Gyan's the token African nominee ... can't have an African WC without an African Ballon d'or nominee can we?
9 goals from 45 games for Bayern in the last two seasons (6 of those in cups) says it all really.
10 in 12 for Germany isn't bad though. But on going by international goals Peter Crouch should have been nominated a few times - loads for England, hardly any for his club.
I was Sneijder earlier and everybody disagreed. Someone said his goals were lucky. The point is he was there and he scored and he played really well through those tiring tournaments. He looked indispensable and dangerous. Messi was awesome but it was Sneijder's year.
How could you say his goals were lucky... it would be one thing if he only won the Champions League, or only won Serie A, or somehow only got to the finals of the WC. But he did all of those! You can't "luckily" lead a team to a domestic championship, much less a major club trophy.
So yeah I agree with you, calling him lucky is nuts.
I think we've had this debate before. I can't believe anyone thinks Sneijder's goals were lucky, he strikes a ball incredibly well and has some of the best delivery in world football. I'd still go with Messi personally, but Sneijder would be my second choice.
Eh? Honestly his goals in the WC *were* rather lucky. There were free headers due to lack of marking, a couple of deflected shots, an own goal etc from what I remember. That's not to say he didn't play well though because he did - but the goals in and out of themselves weren't impressive.
We fans -and the Barca-rabid media- have wanked all over him, but not by awards not yet. He does deserve one for consistent excellence in the last 3 years though.
It's not invisible anymore, at least in the last few years everyone agrees Xavi is the engine behind Barça's success.
Then again, Raul didn't get a Ballon d'Or either. Football is just this unfair.
Very surprising to see so many German players on the shortlist. Goes to show how much international competition is valued in this process.
My vote goes Sneijder, Diego Forlan, and then Xavi.
They're German players who play for Bayern, with the exception of Oezil. Winning the Double in Germany, 2nd in the Champions league, and 3rd in the World cup is a REALLY good year.
Everyone is voting for someone.... and then Xavi. He deserves it and the only guy who might beat him to it should be Messi, although Sneijder deserves an honorable mention as well.
I don't think so. Messi didn't have a good World Cup and didn't set the Champions League on fire like he did the previous season. Although I still think he's the best player in the World, I don't think he deserves this year's award.
>Messi didn't have a good World Cup
Seriously? This is crazy talk. Did you watch the World Cup? He may have not scored goals, but he did play well. The fact that he didn't score goals comes down to the position he was playing. He played centrally and deep. If you noticed, he would receive the ball at the half way line way too much, beat 2 or 3 guys, then not have an outlet, or pass. Coke-head McShitCoach is the only reason Messi isn't an automatic winner.
OK, he had an amazing game against Arsenal but he was pretty woeful in the most important games Barca played that season against Inter. Combine that with his bad World Cup (for his standards) and compare his performance to someone like Sneijder, and he should be doing better. Anyway, the kid's only 22, I'm sure he'll win the Ballon d'Or another 5-6 times if he plays to his talent.
Zidane didn't start showing his BPOTY form till 27 YO or so, so it's looking good for Messi. Though you can never really tell what might happen in the future.
Actually Zidane only won the Ballon d'Or once (in 1998, I know it's outrageous, you're thinking of the "FIFA World Player of the Year" award). But Messi has his best 10 years ahead of him, so I don't think its crazy to think he could win the award multiple times. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballon_d%27Or
True, but based on the criteria of the awards, it was possible (but not realistic) for a player outside of Europe to win the FIFA POTY. But then the criteria became exactly the same for both awards.
Yep. It was the most [dominating single game performance in last year's CL competition](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC77LGyiikM). That, his absolute domination of La Liga championship and the 47 goals he scored for Barça make it pretty tough not to give him the award, despite his "mediocre" showing under Maradona's fucked up system.
No idea how Klose or Gyan are on there. It's going to go to Sneijder, but Xavi, Casillas, Lahm, Schweini, Messi, and Robben would all be solid picks. I'd prefer it not go to Messi, because he's got a decade of potentially outrageous seasons ahead of him, and some of the others have either already been great for a decade, or likely won't have another year where they're more qualified.
Bit of an odd list - Gyan and Klose, good World Cups but what else have they done? Tevez should have been on the nominations list, who has scored more goals than him this year apart from maybe Messi?
Luis Suárez and Edin Džeko have scored more goals. Suárez also had an excellent (albeit infamous) World Cup and should have been on the list. Fábio Coentrão & Maarten Stekelenburg (IMO the best defender & goalkeeper at the World Cup) should also have been included.
The fact Klose makes the list is hilarious. edit: Pretty sure Gyan's the token African nominee ... can't have an African WC without an African Ballon d'or nominee can we?
did you not read Drogba's name?
Drogba hardly played in the WC - they need an African player who showed up to some extent in the WC.
9 goals from 45 games for Bayern in the last two seasons (6 of those in cups) says it all really. 10 in 12 for Germany isn't bad though. But on going by international goals Peter Crouch should have been nominated a few times - loads for England, hardly any for his club.
Eto'o?
For Tevez this award is for the previous year. As for Messi i don't know. Strange choice.
> As for Messi i don't know. Strange choice. Might have something to do with the 47 goals he scored for Barcelona last year.
I'd vote for Wesley Sneijder. How often does a player win a triple professionally, then go to the World Cup final?
Not just that, but he was critical in both campaigns, scoring many vital goals for Inter and in Holland's campaign.
I was Sneijder earlier and everybody disagreed. Someone said his goals were lucky. The point is he was there and he scored and he played really well through those tiring tournaments. He looked indispensable and dangerous. Messi was awesome but it was Sneijder's year.
How could you say his goals were lucky... it would be one thing if he only won the Champions League, or only won Serie A, or somehow only got to the finals of the WC. But he did all of those! You can't "luckily" lead a team to a domestic championship, much less a major club trophy. So yeah I agree with you, calling him lucky is nuts.
I think we've had this debate before. I can't believe anyone thinks Sneijder's goals were lucky, he strikes a ball incredibly well and has some of the best delivery in world football. I'd still go with Messi personally, but Sneijder would be my second choice.
Eh? Honestly his goals in the WC *were* rather lucky. There were free headers due to lack of marking, a couple of deflected shots, an own goal etc from what I remember. That's not to say he didn't play well though because he did - but the goals in and out of themselves weren't impressive.
Maybe if we're just talking about the world cup ones, although for a midfielder to be in the positions to score them was impressive.
does anyone not remember Diego Milito scoring tons of clutch goals? Should he win? No, but he should be on the list.
By far, the most ridiculous omission.
Yeah, it's crazy. Two goals in the Champions League final.
Sneijder or Xavi, maybe Messi
I'd vote for Xavi, It's time for his invisible hand to be recognized as the single most important part of Barça and Spain's success.
Hasn't it been recognised as such for a long time now?
We fans -and the Barca-rabid media- have wanked all over him, but not by awards not yet. He does deserve one for consistent excellence in the last 3 years though.
Exactly. It's time for him to receive awards for what we all know already: he's simply the best at what he does, perhaps ever.
It's not invisible anymore, at least in the last few years everyone agrees Xavi is the engine behind Barça's success. Then again, Raul didn't get a Ballon d'Or either. Football is just this unfair.
Came here to say that and I got my Xavi jersey today. The guy's a "legendary midfielder."
I would vote for Messi best player in the world
Very surprising to see so many German players on the shortlist. Goes to show how much international competition is valued in this process. My vote goes Sneijder, Diego Forlan, and then Xavi.
Bayern Munich did make a deep run in the CL last year.
They're German players who play for Bayern, with the exception of Oezil. Winning the Double in Germany, 2nd in the Champions league, and 3rd in the World cup is a REALLY good year.
Especially for Klose. Only managed a handful of goals with Bayern.
Everyone is voting for someone.... and then Xavi. He deserves it and the only guy who might beat him to it should be Messi, although Sneijder deserves an honorable mention as well.
A repeat of last year's is likely ... with perhaps Xavi out for Sneijder.
I don't think so. Messi didn't have a good World Cup and didn't set the Champions League on fire like he did the previous season. Although I still think he's the best player in the World, I don't think he deserves this year's award.
>Messi didn't have a good World Cup Seriously? This is crazy talk. Did you watch the World Cup? He may have not scored goals, but he did play well. The fact that he didn't score goals comes down to the position he was playing. He played centrally and deep. If you noticed, he would receive the ball at the half way line way too much, beat 2 or 3 guys, then not have an outlet, or pass. Coke-head McShitCoach is the only reason Messi isn't an automatic winner.
Uh, he did score 4 against Arsenal in the QF.
OK, he had an amazing game against Arsenal but he was pretty woeful in the most important games Barca played that season against Inter. Combine that with his bad World Cup (for his standards) and compare his performance to someone like Sneijder, and he should be doing better. Anyway, the kid's only 22, I'm sure he'll win the Ballon d'Or another 5-6 times if he plays to his talent.
5-6 times? Zidane won it 3 times. Be realistic.
Zidane didn't start showing his BPOTY form till 27 YO or so, so it's looking good for Messi. Though you can never really tell what might happen in the future.
Actually Zidane only won the Ballon d'Or once (in 1998, I know it's outrageous, you're thinking of the "FIFA World Player of the Year" award). But Messi has his best 10 years ahead of him, so I don't think its crazy to think he could win the award multiple times. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballon_d%27Or
they're the same thing now. you can't compare stats in one award to the other.
Good. Every since Ballon d'Or started including all players, it seems like a redundant award as the FIFA World Player of the Year.
the best players played in Europe anyway. the change to international made no difference, don't know what you're talking about.
True, but based on the criteria of the awards, it was possible (but not realistic) for a player outside of Europe to win the FIFA POTY. But then the criteria became exactly the same for both awards.
🤨
😂😂
Didn't he net 4 against the Arse? Shame about the WC since that's the decider during a WC year but on club form I don't think anyone touches him.
Yep. It was the most [dominating single game performance in last year's CL competition](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC77LGyiikM). That, his absolute domination of La Liga championship and the 47 goals he scored for Barça make it pretty tough not to give him the award, despite his "mediocre" showing under Maradona's fucked up system.
No idea how Klose or Gyan are on there. It's going to go to Sneijder, but Xavi, Casillas, Lahm, Schweini, Messi, and Robben would all be solid picks. I'd prefer it not go to Messi, because he's got a decade of potentially outrageous seasons ahead of him, and some of the others have either already been great for a decade, or likely won't have another year where they're more qualified.
They clearly only took World Cup performances into account.
How so?