5 midfielders who deserved to win the Ballon d'Or
The life of a midfielder in this generation is very difficult. While a lot of fans will blame them if their team lose, not many bats an eye when their team wins. It's either the defenders or the forwards that get the praise for a successful team.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been winning the Ballon d'Or for the last decade but there have been several instances where there was a player who was better than them during the course of the season, but still, one of these two ended up winning the individual honour!
Here are 5 such midfielders who deserved to win the Ballon d'Or:
#5 Andrés Iniesta
When people think of Andres Iniesta, the first thing that comes to one's mind is his 116th-minute goal against the Netherlands in the 2010 World Cup final or that goal against Chelsea in 2009.
The Barcelona legend is undoubtedly one of the best midfielders the world has ever seen and it’s a pity that he never won the Ballon d’Or. He has won 9 La Liga titles, 7 Spanish Super Cups, 6 Copa del Rey trophies, 4 Champions Leagues titles, 3 European Super Cups and 3 Club World Cups with Blaugrana.
The 2010 Ballon d’Or should have gone to Iniesta without anyone even coming close but somehow, it was given to Lionel Messi instead. The midfielder had won the World Cup and La Liga that season, made it to the FIFPro and UEFA team of the year but still finished 2nd with just 17.36% of the votes in the race for Ballon d’Or.
France Football apologised to Iniesta this year after he announced his departure from Barcelona. “Of all the absences on the list of Ballon d’Or winners, his is particularly painful,” the magazine’s editor Pascal Ferre said in his article earlier this year.