The shortlist has been announced for the most prestigious individual award a player or a manager can receive in the world of football and as always, all of the usual suspects are present. You can’t deny that the list contains 23 of the best footballers on this planet but given that the winner is supposed to be selected on the merits of the previous season, there are a few candidates on the list that simply haven’t warranted their place – Neymar, Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard to name a few. So who should receive the coveted Golden Ball this year?
Third Place: Radamel Falcao
The former Atletico Madrid hitman departed Spain to start a new life in the tax haven of Monaco in the summer, but the legacy he left behind in his two years in Madrid is quite astonishing. The dismay of the Atletico faithful over the loss of their striker is an indication of how important he was, and his second season proved that the first wasn’t a fluke, and that he is the most consistent out-and-out centre forward in the world. 34 goals in 40 appearances says a great deal. He scored 43% of Atletico’s goals in the league, and although he didn’t carry the team by himself, without his input, Atletico would not have qualified for any European competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored many more goals than Falcao did last season, so on that basis, he should be streaks ahead of Falcao in the standings. The only difference is that Ronaldo finished the season without a trophy, whereas Falcao triumphed over Ronaldo’s Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey final to claim his piece of silverware before departing for France. There is no doubt that Ronaldo is the better player of the two, but based on last season, Falcao’s input clearly had a lot more significance, so he takes third place.
Second Place: Lionel Messi
What can you say about this man that hasn’t been said already? There is no doubt about his unquestionable ability, while his modest persona and understated lifestyle add to his overall likeable character. Having won the award for the last four consecutive years, his dominance is more than justified by his performances and his stats. Last year, his 46 league goals came from just 32 appearances – that’s 1.4 goals per game. At Danny Welbeck’s current scoring rate, it would take him around nine seasons to achieve what Messi did in 32 games. It’s quite mind boggling.
The argument over who is the best player in the world has been raging for a while now with people split between Ronaldo and Messi. The truth is, there is nothing to separate them ability-wise – they are both one-offs. However, as this must be based on the merits of last season, Messi helped his Barcelona team to regain that league title that they had surrendered to Madrid the year before. The only way to separate the two is by counting their trophies and in this case, Lionel Andres Messi comes out on top.
First Place: Franck Ribery
UEFA Best Player in Europe 2012/2013. You could just stop there, really. Ribery has never been selected among the top three before, but if he doesn’t make it this year, then he probably never will. He only scored a combined total of 16 goals for club and country but if you add the further 23 assists he provided for his teammates, it paints a much better picture of his overall input. Since his move to Bayern Munich in 2007, he has been rightfully regarded as one of the top five or six players in the world, but hasn’t been recognised as such simply because he hadn’t won enough. That all changed last year.
After playing second fiddle to Borussia Dortmund for a couple of years, Bayern Munich pulled their socks up and reclaimed the Bundesliga title in the most emphatic of fashion. Ribery was the catalyst in a season which saw the German giants finish 25 points ahead of their closest rivals and wrapped up the title with 6 games to spare. Although Ribery only played in 3 of the 6 DFB Pokal (German Cup) games (because of suspension), he still chipped in with 3 assists and made an appearance in the final to help his team secure the national cup. Then, without forgetting his memorable performances against the mighty Barcelona in both legs of the Champions League semi-finals, he helped Bayern Munich to victory in the final of the Champions League to complete an historic treble for the Germans. Although Arjen Robben stole the headlines with his late winner in that epic final against Dortmund, Ribery’s ability and experience was there for everybody to see.
In reality, the award could be awarded to Bastian Schweinsteiger or Arjen Robben who both played a pivotal role in Bayern’s success last term but Franck Ribery was without doubt the most important cog in a very efficient machine. At 30 years old, he is far from a spring chicken and he has finally backed up his ability with trophies. The best player on the planet last season.
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