'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Cristiano Ronaldo won the award in 2014FIFA recently released the 23 strong list of male footballers who will compete for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or. The usual suspects Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were joined by many of their teammates and other world class footballers from around the world or to be more exact from around Europe.Many names that most people expected to be in there have made the list, but surprisingly some of the top performers, especially few non-attacking players, are absent from the final shortlist.Here is a list of five players we believe should have made the 23 man shortlist for the award.
#1 Gianluigi Buffon
When veteran keepers like Iker Casillas are struggling to produce performances similar to the ones from their younger days, Gianluigi Buffon continues to be an exception as he has proved time and time again that age is just a number.
Buffon led Juventus through an amazing season last time around and kept 18 clean sheets as the Old Lady was crowned Italian champion for a fourth successive time. The Italian also captained Juventus to their first Coppa Italia title in twenty years and also to the final of the UEFA Champions League.
Buffon was instrumental in getting Juventus to the Champions League final in the first place and one of the highlights of his performance in the competition was in the semi-final win against Real Madrid. In the final, despite conceding an early goal, he was responsible for keeping Juventus in the game with some vital saves.
The Italian 37-year-old was named in the UEFA Champions League team of the season for 2014/15 and was also placed fourth in the polling for UEFA’s best player in Europe award and he was only behind Messi, Ronaldo and Suarez.
The Italian’s scintillating performance recently against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League was yet another reminder of how brilliant he has bee despite his age.
#2 Carlos Tevez
Carlos Tevez was a crucial member of the Juventus side that reached the final of the Champions League and won two domestic titles in the 2014/15 season. The Argentine then secured a move back to his hometown in the summer and has continued his impressive run of form.
Tevez scored twenty league goals for Juventus last season as well as seven goals in the UEFA Champions League. This made him the club's top scorer in both competitions and overall with 29 goals. Tevez scored some important goals for Juventus, including one against Real Madrid and three against Dortmund in the Champions League.
The 31-year-old was named the club’s player of the season for his contributions, but surprisingly only Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal were named in the list from Juventus. The Argentinian has continued his good form at Boca and has now scored five goals in 11 games for the club.
Was Tevez overlooked because he moved out of Europe in the summer? That’s something to ponder over as no player who currently plays outside Europe has made the cut this year.
#3 Gerard Pique
When Luis Enrique took over as Barcelona manager in 2014, Gerard Pique was not one of the first names on the team sheet. The Spaniard was benched in favour of Jeremy Mathieu initially, but the former Manchester United man won his place back by putting in brilliant performances when he was handed a chance.
Pique went on to become one of the first names on the team sheet for Barcelona and was one of the architects behind Barcelona’s eventual treble win. The aspect of his game on which Pique improved massively was his leadership qualities on the pitch and it was something which he lacked while partnering Carles Puyol.
The 27-year-old also chipped in with seven goals last season which was his highest tally for a season. The defender’s contributions towards Barcelona’s successful campaign didn’t go unnoticed as he was rightly named in the UEFA Champions League squad of the season for 2014/15 and the La Liga Team of the Season for 2014/15.
However despite all of his efforts, Pique was overlooked for the Ballon d’Or and the only defender in the list is his partner Javier Mascherano.
#4 Alexandre Lacazette
Alexandre Lacazette must have done something terribly wrong to be overlooked for so many individual awards despite enjoying an amazing season last year. Lacazette won the Ligue 1 player of the year award following an outstanding season, but he wasn’t nominated for the FIFA Ballon d’Or or the UEFA Player of the Year award.
This is baffling as Zlatan Ibrahimovic who had an injury ridden season and scored considerably fewer goals than Lacazette has made the cut. The Frenchman was the Ligue 1 top scorer with 27 goals, which was nine more than Ibrahimovic’s tally for the season.
What makes this even more remarkable is the fact that he played just 31 league games due to injury. He finished the season with 31 goals in 38 games across all competitions with a significant number coming in the second half of the season. He was also the third highest scorer in Europe last season and the only players who scored more than him are Ronaldo and Messi.
Lacazette got off to a slow start this season and has scored just two goals so far, but that shouldn’t stand against him as players like James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale who have missed many games through injury have made the cut.
#5 Sergio Ramos
The exclusion of Sergio Ramos from the shortlist for the Ballon d’Or makes it clearer that non-attacking players are often overlooked for individual awards.
Although Real Madrid didn’t win any major trophies last season, Ramos was one of the key members of the Real Madrid side that conceded just 38 league goals. One of the trophies Real lifted last season was the FIFA Club World Cup and Ramos won the Golden Ball as he scored in the semi-final as well as the final, while keeping clean sheets in both games.
During the current season, Ramos has been a rock at the back for a Real Madrid side that has conceded just two goals across all competitions. In fact with Ramos on the pitch, Real have conceded just one goal. The Spaniard has been in good form during the Euro qualifying games and helped Spain keep cleansheets against Slovakia, Macedonia, Belarus and Ukraine.
Despite all his solid performances at the back for both club and country, Ramos has surprisingly been overlooked for the award.
