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Nineteen Premier League players had votes to cast for this year’s Ballon d’Or award as international captains; with just under 10% of the total vote the global talent assembled in England’s top flight, the Premier League had a significant say as to who would scoop the biggest individual prize in football.
But as you would expect from players with national or club allegiances and their own agendas to fulfil, their top three picks were not always straight forward. Take a look at the full list below, with top choices listed first:
Belgium: Vincent Kompany
1. Franck Ribéry 2. Yaya Touré 3. Eden Hazard
The towering Manchester City centre-back has ignored the two obvious choices and handed votes to a couple of his team-mates. Working closely with Toure has clearly made a big impression while Kompany also gifted midfielder Hazard his only vote, unsurprising from a fellow Belgian.
Congo DR: Youssouf Mulumbu
Andrés Iniesta, Neymar, Lionel Messi.
West Brom’s Mulumbu is clearly a fan of tiki-taka, giving all three of his votes to Barcelona players, with Ronaldo not good enough for a place in his top three.
Costa Rica: Bryan Ruiz
Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribéry, Radamel Falcao.
Fulham forward Ruiz, who could soon be on his way to PSV Eindhoven, ignores Messi but gives a vote to another South American counterpart, Monaco’s goal machine Falcao.
Czech Republic: Tomáš Rosický
Franck Ribéry, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo
Arsenal veteran Rosicky thought Ribery’s exploits for Bayern Munich deserved the gong, possibly pointing to an opinion that the success of the team is greater than an individual.
Denmark: Daniel Agger
Lionel Messi , Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Ribery drops out of the top three for Liverpool’s Agger, preferring PSG’s colossus striker Ibrahimovic. As a fellow tough and powerful Scandinavian, the former Barcelona man clearly possesses traits that Agger admires, despite a rivalry between their respective nations.
Ecuador: Luis Antonio Valencia
Radamel Falcao, Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribéry
Manchester United winger Valencia has chosen his countryman Falcao as first choice, while, like Bryan Ruiz, opting not to award a vote to Argentinian Messi. The Monaco striker helped fire Colombia to the World Cup which was enough to convince Valencia that Ronaldo would be consigned to second choice.
England: Steven Gerrard
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez
Not holding any grudges against the former star of his fierce rivals Manchester United, Three Lions skipper Gerrard chose Ronaldo as top pick. While his admiration for striker Luis Suarez is obvious, as Gerrard rates the Uruguayan as one of the best he has played alongside.
France: Hugo Lloris
Franck Ribéry, Manuel Neuer, Gareth Bale
A rather biased set of votes from Spurs’ shot stopper as he plumps for fellow Frenchman Ribery. Elsewhere, a rare vote for a fellow goalkeeper comes in the shape of Bayern’s Neuer and former team mate Bale’s heroics for Tottenham were enough to secure third.
Greece: Georgios Karagounis
Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribéry, Yaya Touré
Greek warhorse Karagounis stuck to the favourites, but omitted Messi completely as his hard fought battles in the centre of the park against Manchester City’s Toure have clearly left their mark on the Fulham man.
Kenya: Victor Wanyama
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Franck Ribéry
Southampton midfielder Wanyama sprang no real surprises in his votes, swayed by Ronaldo’s outstanding record, but not convinced Bayern’s wide man had done enough to eclipse Messi’s achievements, who he faced in the Champions League first hand while at Celtic.
Netherlands: Robin van Persie
Arjen Robben, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United’s injured frontman chose his countryman Robben as first choice, despite Ribery being hailed as Bayern’s star man last season. A bitter game against Portugal for Holland in the 2006 World Cup does not stop Ronaldo coming in as third choice.
New Zealand: Winston Reid
Gareth Bale, Neymar, Lionel Messi
Defender Winston Reid was on the wrong end of a Bale pile driver last season and hands first choice to the world’s most expensive player. Surprisingly, the West Ham centre back also chose Neymar, despite him not playing in Europe for the majority of last year.
Norway: Brede Hangeland
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Zlatan Ibrahimovic , Cristiano Ronaldo
Fulham’s towering centre back picks Bayern’s midfield general, who was somehow overlooked in Fifa’s World XI, at number one. Ibrahimovic also picks up another vote from a Scandinavian nation.
Romania: Vlad Chiriches
Cristiano Ronaldo, Ribéry Franck, Ibrahimovic Zlatan
Tottenham new boy Chiriches, is a relatively young captain at 24, but casts a wise vote in Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi is again overlooked, while Ibrahimovic’s strength and presence makes him stand out for the former Steaua Bucharest defender.
Senegal: Mohamed Diamé
Lionel Messi , Franck Ribéry, Cristiano Ronaldo
West Ham’s midfielder chooses the three favourites with Ribery and Ronaldo not doing enough to overthrow the special talent that is Messi, in Diame’s opinion.
Serbia: Branislav Ivanovic
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi , Franck Ribéry
Having faced all three of his picks on numerous occasions, Chelsea’s spartan like defender knows just how tough they are to handle. Madrid’s Ronaldo leads the way, with Messi and Ribery behind him, who both play for clubs the West Londoners got the better of and dispatched en route to the Champions League trophy.
Slovakia: Martin Skrtel
Luis Suárez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi
29 year-old Skrtel has played with some outstanding talent during his spell at Anfield, but clearly puts Suarez on top of that list. The Urguyuan has been the inspiration behind Liverpool and is Skrtel’s first choice, despite his lengthy suspension, while Ronaldo sneaks in ahead of Messi.
Trinidad and Tobago: Kenwyne Jones
Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribéry, Lionel Messi
Powerful Stoke striker Jones rates Ronaldo as his number one, while Bayern’s teble winning campaign convinced him that Ribery was worth pushing Messi down into third position as the Barcelona forward struggled with injuries in the second half of the year.
Wales: Ashley Williams
Gareth Bale, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo
There is no surprise that Swansea captain Williams hailed Bale as his number one. The Welshman became the world’s most expensive player after his move to Real Madrid and is worthy for his form at Tottenham that earned the move, according to Williams. Pass master Xavi is preferred to his team mate Messi in second.
Interestingly, if only votes from Premier League players had counted towards the prize Cristiano Ronaldo (48) would have been the runaway winner, with Franck Ribery (33) edging out Lionel Messi (26) in third. (Based on 5, 3, 1 point system). Ronaldo won seven top votes while Ribery and Messi managed three and two respectively.
