FIFA Ballon D' Or: Curriculum Vitae of the Nominees
The Fifa Ballon D’ Or is probably the greatest individual honour that a player can get in the world of football and it gives the player and his fans the bragging rights for atleast a year. Winning the Ballon D’ Or is a dream come true for any player because it etches his name in gold. It could be called the “Nobel Prize For Football”. This year, the prizes are going to be given as part of a gala ceremony at KongressHaus, Zurich on the 7th of January. A 23-man shortlist was compiled for this event by the FIFA Football Committee and a group of experts from France Football. It was announced on 29th October,2012. Later on 29th November, this shortlist was down to 3 players and the players were (no prizes for guessing!!) Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The winner would be announced after voting by national coaches, captains and journalists.
Now on to the nominees. Shortlisting these 3 Players would not have been difficult for FIFA as the performances of these three have outshone all others by a proverbial mile. However, selection of a winner out of these 3 would be the real headache. Let’s examine the Curriculum Vitae of the 3 nominees and decide the winner for ourselves.
Think goals and you think Lionel Messi. The “Magician” scores goals at such staggering rates that we are just left catching our breath and what better year than 2012 to support this fact. Messi scored 91 goals in the calendar year 2012 breaking a 40-year-old record held by Gerd Muller (85 goals). He also became the highest scorer for Barcelona in all official competitions and the La Liga. 2012 has been the year where he has shattered record after record, scoring the highest number of goals in a single edition of UEFA Champions League(14). He also scored 50 goals in the La Liga becoming the top scorer of the season. He also provided the highest number of assists in the season. The only negative that emerged after all that was Barcelona was not able to win any major trophy in 2012 except the Copa Del Rey. He even impressed for his national team by scoring the highest number of goals for Argentina in a calendar year(12), sharing the record with Batistuta. His goals have contributed to Argentina sitting atop the South American WC Qualifiers table.
Lionel Messi has been stunning players, coaches and critics with his outstanding pace, creativity, dribbling, passing and his eye for goal. He often undertakes dribbling runs from the halfway line while on the counterattack. He also moves back to retrieve the ball and often creates space for wingers and attacking midfielders. His diagonal runs from just outside the box are a example of pure beauty. He takes on many defenders all at once and his ability to find a pass in a tight situation to ease the pressure have been instrumental in scoring goals. He very swiftly and efficiently moves into dangerous positions to get a shot at goal. His exquisite finishing has also earned accolades from many a great player of yore. His ability to cut open opposition defences with his movement and control of the ball just keeps us glued to our seats. Whenever Messi touches the ball, all calls of nature become secondary.
Lionel Messi has won three consecutive Ballon D’ Or titles and the question asked by many around the world is whether he will win his fourth this year. If he does, it will take him past Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo of Brazil, both having won the award thrice. He is often compared with Pele and Maradona. It surely is heady company for the little Argentine!
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most skilled modern footballers. 2012 has been a great year for the unstoppable Madridista. He won his first La Liga title with Real Madrid, scoring 46 goals in the process. He scored 3 goals in the Euros, including 2 against 2010 WC finalists Netherlands. He was instrumental in leading Portugal to 2012 Euro Semifinals. Domestically, he scored 2 goals against Barcelona, making him the first man to score in 6 consecutive Clasicos. He also became the first European top league player to score 40+ goals in two consecutive seasons and fastest Real Madrid player to reach 100 goals for the club. In addition, he scored most goals scored per minute in the La Liga.
Ronaldo is a fast, tricky and strong winger who will take on any defender with his dribbling and pace. His brilliant step-overs often puts the defenders in a fix and send them the wrong way. His acceleration and speed often catches opposition teams on the back foot. He is a skilled dribbler and his skills are probably rivalled only by the likes of players like Ronaldinho. He has a very powerful foot which makes him a great free-kick taker and often sends the ball curling into the top corner of the net. He scores equally well with his head and his foot. His movements into central positions from the wings often catches teams off-guard creating spaces. He also finds brilliant crosses from the wings.
Ronaldo won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2008 following his performances with Manchester United. Since then, the award has gone to his rival Messi. This year might be the most opportune time for him to usurp the title of the Greatest Player in the World.
Iniesta may not be raking up goals and assists like other two but no one in the world can deny that he is the best midfielder in the world today. He has already won the UEFA Best Player In Europe award this year and was adjudged the UEFA Champions League Player of the Season 2011-2012. He has been an integral part of the UEFA Euro 2012 winning Spanish Squad; a fact no less substantiated by his 3 man of the match awards in the Euros, including the final against Italy. He was also given the award of the Best Player of the Tournament.
Iniesta is a player who many consider to be a combination of Xavi and Messi. He exhibits balance, control, agility and skill on the ball, which make him a complete player. He often finds passes with his vision and creates numerous goals for his strikers. His brilliant dribbling skills were on display in the game against Italy, where he took on 4 defenders all at once and created a beautiful goal. His creativity and understanding of how the game ebbs and flows make him a vital player. Sir Alex Ferguson even said that he was more afraid of Iniesta than Messi. Iniesta can play in any position – as a false winger, attacking midfielder, just behind the striker and even as a very deep midfielder. His partnership with Xavi, which is the heart of the highly successful Spanish National Team and the world dominating Barcelona, has been well documented. He has earned nicknames like ‘El Cerebro’(The Brain) because he creates some of the best attacking plays in the world. He plays well in the big games, notable examples being the UEFA Champions League Semifinal against Chelsea in 2008-2009, where he scored the goal which helped Barca to progress, scoring the World Cup winning goal against Netherlands in 2010 WC Finals and his performance against Italy in UEFA Euro 2012 finals.
Andre’s Iniesta has probably won more medals that other two, including 2 Euros and 1 World Cup. However, it remains to be seen whether he can win the Ballon D’ Or as well.
Now that we know about the nominees and have formed our opinions, let’s patiently wait for the countdown to hit zero with our eyes fixed on KongressHaus, Zurich.