Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the inaugural FIFA Best Player of the Year award in a glitzy ceremony on January 9th. Ronaldo with 34.54% of the votes took the top prize, while his rival, Lionel Messi claimed the second position with 26.42% of the votes. France’s Antoine Griezmann rounded off the top 3 with 7.53%.
Ronaldo and Messi were quite clearly the two best footballers according to the national team managers and captains, but these 7 important footballing personalities failed to include both of them in their top 3!
Without much ado, let us take a look at the 7 famous captains and coaches who failed to include either of Ronaldo or Messi in their top 3 list for the FIFA Best Player award:
Note: Ronaldo’s and Messi’s votes have not been included. Their votes were:
Lionel Messi (Argentina): Suarez, Neymar, Iniesta
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal): Bale, Modric, Ramos
Manuel Neuer (Germany) – Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Robert Lewandowski
Germany captain Manuel Neuer was in the 3 man Ballon d’or shortlist in 2014 where many people thought he deserved the top prize ahead of eventual winner Cristiano Ronaldo. Neuer had a wonderful year in 2014, winning the FIFA World Cup and playing a starring role in Bayern Munich’s spectacular domestic double.
The supremely talented shot-stopper even spoke about his disappointment at finishing behind the legendary duo of Messi and Ronaldo in the Ballon d’Or award rankings list. The defeat still seems to rankle as Neuer failed to pick either Messi or Ronaldo in his 3 man shortlist.
His top pick went for Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos, while he chose Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil in second place and Bayern team-mate Robert Lewandowski in third. While there is no arguing the fact that his 3 picks had stellar years, the fact that he failed to pick either Ronaldo or Messi in his top 3 is a bit of a surprise.
Diego Godin (Uruguay) – Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, Andres Iniesta
Uruguay captain Diego Godin also failed to include both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on his list. The Atletico Madrid defender had many battles with both Ronaldo and Messi last year, but according to him, his countryman Luis Suarez was the best player in the world for the year 2016.
The Barcelona striker was in fine form for the Catalan giants and he was arguably their best player in the La Liga last season. Unsurprisingly, his second pick went for his Atletico Madrid team-mate Antoine Griezmann.
The Frenchman was simply superb last year, and although he missed out on both the Champions League and Euro 2016 Championships to Cristiano Ronaldo, Griezmann cemented his place as one of the best forwards in the world.
Surprisingly, Godin for his third pick went with Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta. While there is no doubting the class of the Spanish maestro, Iniesta was injured for quite some time in 2016 and his place in Diego Godin’s list ahead of the likes of Messi and Ronaldo is pretty debatable.
Stephan Constantine (India): Gareth Bale, Robert Lewandowski, Luis Suarez
The Indian national team coach also chose to not include either of Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi scored the most number of goals in 2016, while Ronaldo won the Champions League and Euro 2016 trophies. However, according to Constantine, the impact of Gareth Bale for Real Madrid and Wales far outstripped Messi’s and Ronaldo’s achievements and contributions.
His second pick was surprisingly Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. The Polish sharpshooter had another consistent season, scoring plenty of goals and finishing as the Bundesliga’s top scorer last season. He also won the domestic double with Bayern Munich last season and is widely considered to be one of the best strikers in world football at the moment.
Constantine rounded off his top 3 by picking Luis Suarez. The Indian national team coach completely ignored both Ronaldo and Messi in his top 3. While Luis Suarez was simply stunning last year, it can be argued that both Messi and Ronaldo deserved a place ahead of Bale and Lewandowski in Constantine’s 3 man shortlist.
Joachim Low (Germany)– Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer
The Germans seem to love Toni Kroos and Mesut Ozil don’t they? While German captain Manuel Neuer named Kroos and Ozil as his first two picks, the national team manager, Joachim Low also followed suit by naming the same duo as his first two picks.
Kroos was absolutely inspirational in Real Madrid’s midfield and played a huge role in Real Madrid’s renaissance under Zidane while Mesut Ozil was his usual self, grabbing a bucket load of assists in the Premier League last season.
However, picking those two ahead of Ronaldo and Messi seems debatable to say the least. What is more shocking is the fact that Low picked Manuel Neuer as his third choice. There is no doubt whatsoever that Neuer is one of the greatest goalkeepers of our generation, but the German shot-stopper had plenty of embarrassing moments last year and certainly was not among the top 3 players of the world.
Martin O'Neill (Republic of Ireland) – Gareth Bale, Gianluigi Buffon, N’golo Kante
The Republic of Ireland manager had quite a hipster pick for his top 3 players. While he like the Indian coach, Stephan Constantine, picked Gareth Bale as his number 1 pick, veteran Italian shot-stopper, Gianluigi Buffon and French star N’golo Kante also made the list.
Buffon along with Rui Patricio was arguably the best goalkeeper of 2016 and the legendary goalkeeper showed that he still has quite a few years left at the top level. N’golo Kante, meanwhile was the architect of Leicester City’s fairytale Premier League triumph.
Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez ran away with all the plaudits, but the player who was undroppable for Claudio Ranieri’s side was the unassuming French midfielder, Kante. The Chelsea star was the best midfielder of 2016 and it is only fitting that he found a place in atleast some managers’ lists.
However, while Buffon and Bale were undoubtedly brilliant last year, Messi and Ronaldo will feel slightly aggrieved that they did not make the top 3 of Martin O’Neill’s list.
Chris Coleman (Wales) – Gareth Bale, Alexis Sanchez, Jamie Vardy
There was no doubt whatsoever that Wales manager Chris Coleman would pick Welsh talisman Gareth Bale as his number one pick. What is surprising though is the fact that Coleman went for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy as his second and third pick respectively.
Alexis Sanchez is undoubtedly the heartbeat of this Arsenal side. The Chilean gives everything on the pitch and was instrumental in Arsenal’s second place in the League. What may have convinced Coleman to pick Sanchez though was Chile’s spectacular Copa America Centenario victory where they defeated Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final.
And that brings us to Coleman’s third pick, Jamie Vardy. After everything that the man has achieved last year can anyone begrudge his place on Coleman’s list? However, on footballing talent alone, Messi and Ronaldo definitely deserved a place ahead of Sanchez and Vardy on this list.
