Meet Massimo Luongo, League One midfielder who got nominated for Ballon d’Or alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
Massimo Luongo is a League One midfielder who got nominated for the 2015 Ballon d'Or award alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Yes, the Australian, who currently plays for League One side Ipswich Town, was a nominee for the 2015 award for his exploits in the Socceroos' AFC Asian Cup-winning campaign that year.
Of course, Luongo didn't come close to winning the award, with Messi winning his fifth Ballon d'Or award in eight years thanks to his exploits in Barcelona's 2014-15 treble-winning campaign. Ronaldo finished second after winning the previous two awards.
Coming back to Luongo, the now 31-year-old recently said about his surprise Ballon d'Or nomination almost a decade ago (as per talkSPORT):
“I didn’t even know if it was real, I thought it was someone trying to be funny. It’s obviously a big honour, not many people get on it, I can say I’ve been on the Ballon d’Or list now. I don’t know what to say about it ... it’s a bit random.”
Playing under current Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou, Luongo bagged two goals and four assists as the Soccerros beat South Korea 2-1 in the final after extra time to win the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The player was then plying his trade at third-tier Swindon town before moving to Queens Park Rangers that summer.
Fast forward eight years, Luongo is set to lock horns with England captain Harry Kane - with whom he spent time at the Spurs academy - in a friendly on Friday (October 13).
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the Ballon d'Or in the last decade
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are inarguably two of the greatest players to have graced the beautiful game. The duo have scored over 800 goals for club and country and won countless individiual and team accolades over the years.
Even being on the wrong side of 30, Ronaldo and Messi are still going strong, ageing like fine wine. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the duo had a Ballon d'Or duopoly between 2008 and 2017, with each player winning the prestigious honour five times.
After current Al-Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo won his first of five Ballon d'Or awards in 2008, Messi - then with Barcelona - swept the next four. Ronaldo won the 2013-14 editions before the Argentine won his fifth in 2015.
The Real Madrid legend returned to the podium once again in 2016 and 2017 before Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or dominance was ended by Luka Modric in 2018.
Since then, current Inter Miami attacker Messi has won the award twice (2019, 2021).