Ballon d'Or winners 2000-2010: Where are they now?

The Ballon d’Or award has become a personal duel between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the recent years, however, in the early 2000s, there were a number of talented and legendary players who won the prestigious individual accolade.

Barcelona and Real Madrid players feature prominently on this list although a number of Serie A players also won the award in this decade. From Figo in 2000 to Lionel Messi in 2010, let us take a look at what the Ballon d’Or winners of the past decade are up to at the moment”

Luis Figo (2000)

Then

Probably the most controversial transfer in the history of football, Luis Figo won the Ballon d’Or award in 2000 while he was at Real Madrid, but it was largely for his performances when he was in Barcelona.

Considered to be one of the three standout Portuguese players along with Eusebio and Cristiano Ronaldo, Figo first created a name for himself at Portuguese giants Sporting CP, before really hitting his strides at Barcelona.

A highly controversial world record transfer to Real Madrid followed where Figo continued to put in amazing performances on the wings, Finally, in 2005, the Portuguese superstar moved to Inter Milan where he called time on his career in 2009.

Now

After his retirement, Figo has actively been involved in football’s governing body FIFA even running for Presidency in 2015, before withdrawing. Now, Figo is actively involved in Futsal and is even the President of burgeoning Indian league Premier Futsal which was held successfully in 2016.