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While collective trophies rank high on the bucket list of all footballers, there is also an underlying need to win individual honours, as such accolades signify a performance level adjudged to have surpassed your peers, and most players, particularly those on the highest cadres strive for individual celebration.
When it comes to individual accolades, there is none bigger than the Ballon d'Or, as the prestigious award is widely regarded to be the highest personal recognition a player could get.
Awarded since 1956, a roll call of Ballon d'Or winners reads like a who's who of the most illustrious names in footballing history, with many of the winners having gone on to achieve legendary status in football folklore.
Though it was originally awarded to exclusively Europeans, in 1995 the award was open to all players from all nationalities with the only caveat being that they had to be playing in a European club.
In 2007, the qualification for the award was further expanded to include players from all nationalities regardless of where they plied their trade.
Since it's inception, the Ballon d'Or has been handed out by French media outfit France Football bar a brief five-year period between 2010 and 2015 when it was handed out by FIFA.
The winner was decided exclusively by journalists from 1956 to 2007, but from 2007 till date, coaches and captains of national teams have also been allocated votes.
With five wins each, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the joint-highest winners in the history of the awards, and with few months until the winner of the 64th edition is announced, we shall be having a rundown of the top five contenders for the award as at September 2019.
#5 Alisson Becker (Liverpool/Brazil)
The last year has been truly spectacular for Alisson Becker, as he has seen his stock grow rapidly since arriving at Liverpool from Roma for a then world-record fee.
While in Italy, the Brazilian international earned a reputation as one of the fast-rising goalies in the world and was affectionately termed the 'Messi of goalkeepers' by then Roma director of football Monchi.
At Anfield, the 26-year-old has seen his stock rise higher, and ended last season as the custodian of the meanest defense in the Premier League, with Liverpool conceding just 22 goals as they finished marginally behind Manchester City in the league.
Furthermore, he ended the season with the Premier League Golden Glove by keeping 21 clean sheets, and ended the season with the Golden Glove in all three competitions he participated in, viz the Copa America and Champions League; becoming the first goalkeeper to achieve the feat in the process.
For his efforts, he was named UEFA Goalkeeper of the season, and given his extreme importance to their cause, fans of The Reds would be hoping that their shot-stopper return from injury in time to aid their quest for glory.
#4 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City/England)
Raheem Sterling was a teenage prodigy after exploding onto the scene with his displays for Liverpool, and for his efforts, Manchester City made him the most expensive English player in history at the time when they signed him for £49m.
Since then, the 25-year-old has grown from an inconsistent youngster into a lethal finisher and is one of the cornerstones of the Manchester City squad that has totally written the history of the English game.
Last season, Sterling was one of Pep Guardiola's most important players and ended the campaign with an astonishing 25 goals and 18 assists in all competitions as the Cityzens completed an unprecedented domestic treble.
They, however, fell short on the continent, with Sterling's dramatic stoppage-time winner against Tottenham in the quarterfinal cancelled after consultations with VAR and he could not inspire England to Nations League glory.
This term, he has continued from where he left off, starting the campaign with a goal in the Community Shield victory over Liverpool and followed that up with a hat-trick on the opening day of the Premier League in the 4-0 demolition of Brighton and has scored five goals from just four league matches.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus/Portugal)
Cristiano Ronaldo began a new chapter in his career when he departed Real Madrid for Juventus in a record-breaking transfer in the summer of 2018.
The 34-year-old has been a record-breaker throughout the course of his career, and continued with that trend in Turin, setting a number of new records including becoming the first man to win league titles in England, Spain and Italy, the joint-fastest to score 10 league goals in Juventus history, the first man to score 400 league goals in Europe's top five leagues and the fastest Juventus player to score 10 goals in his debut season among others.
In total, he scored 28 goals and assisted 10 times from 45 matches in all competitions and though he did not inspire Juventus to the Champions League trophy, he still helped the club to an eighth consecutive Scudetto and the Super Coppa Italia, while he also captained his country to the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League.
This term, he opened his scoring account with a well-taken goal against Napoli, and having reminded everyone of how fit he is at the UEFA awards, the 34-year-old would once again lead Juventus' charge for glory this season.
#2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)
Lionel Messi made history when he became the first player to win this award in four consecutive years between 2009 and 2012, but since then, he has gotten his hands on the famous prize just once - in 2015 as his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo dominated in the last few years.
Indeed, last year saw Messi miss out on the podium for the first time in a decade, as he paid the price for Barcelona's Champions League struggles and his own personal no-show at the 2018 World Cup and in seeming retribution for the slight, Lionel Messi was totally unplayable on occasion last season, as though trying to remind everyone of just how great he is.
On an individual level, the Argentine international had one of his best campaigns in recent years, scoring a whopping 51 goals and had 22 assists from just 50 matches in all competitions and won the Golden Boot in LaLiga, Europe and the Champions League.
The gloss was rubbed off his personal accomplishments somewhat, as he could not help Barcelona to the Champions League, while he also disappointed yet again on the international scene with Argentina at the 2019 Copa America.
For his efforts last season, Messi was voted as the best forward in the Champions League, and though a calf injury has sidelined him since the start of the season, the Rosario native would seek to bounce back and help Barcelona arrest their LaLiga rot.
#1 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool/Netherlands)
Though Liverpool paid a then world-record fee of £75m to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton, it was money well spent, as the Dutchman has helped transform their defense from leaky and shaky into compact and assured.
Two seasons ago, it would have been ridiculous and downright laughable to suggest that Liverpool would boast the best defensive record in the league, but that was exactly what happened last season and Virgil Van Dijk had a huge role to play in that.
The towering centre-back posted truly remarkable stats last season, finishing as the player with the second-most passes (3,037) behind only Jorginho, while he also attempted 38 tackles with a 74% success rate.
He won 244 of the 322 duels he competed, while also making 199 clearances and also showed his usefulness in the attacking third with four goals and two assists to help Liverpool to a second-place finish in the league.
For his efforts, he was named the PFA Player of the Year, while he also captained the Netherlands to the final of the Nations League and helped Jurgen Klopp's men to the Champions League trophy.
Van Dijk was unsurprisingly voted as the best defender in the Champions League last season, while he also became the first defender to be named UEFA Men's Player of the Year and is firmly in position to become only the fourth defender in history to win the Ballon d'Or.
