4 legends who deserved to win the Ballon d'Or

#3 Xavi

Despite being less flashy than his teammates, Xavi was the driving force for Spain's success from 2008 to 2012

Barcelona’s midfield pass-master for well over a decade, Xavi is in the same boat as his famous partner in crime Andres Iniesta in that he’s one of the most decorated players in football history when it comes to both individual and team trophies, and yet he never quite managed to capture the Ballon d’Or.

Obviously, this is largely for the same reasons as Iniesta – except you could argue that Xavi was also in the shadow of his slightly more illustrious Spanish teammate as well as the giant shadows of Messi and Ronaldo. But despite performing a less flashy role in the side, perhaps no player was more important to Spain’s successes in 2008, 2010 and 2012 than Xavi.

He was named Player of the Tournament in Euro 2008 after dominating the midfield – scoring in the semi-final match with Russia – and his stats for the World Cup in 2010 (599 successful passes, a passing success rate of 91%) are simply insane to look at in hindsight. He also made 127 successful passes in the Euro 2012 final against Italy, breaking a tournament record in the process.

In the pre-Messi and Ronaldo era, plenty of less flashy players managed to win the Ballon d’Or – Fabio Cannavaro and Matthias Sammer, for instance – so the fact that Xavi never claimed the famous award is a travesty.