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For those of you who don't quite understand the hype and significance of the Ballon d'Or, imagine being the best in the world at what you do. Now, imagine you were given a trophy for it. One that nobody else in the entire world could beat you to. Feel good? To know that you've surpassed the ENTIRE planet at what you do?
The Ballon d'Or is that exact validation in the football world. Every year, there's just 1 of its kind on the line, and only the very best footballer in the world (over a period of a whole year, mind you) is bestowed with one of the most elegant trophies in sporting history.
While most legends have struggled to win it even once in their career, and only 10 players in history have won it more than once, our era has been blessed with 2 players, wizards, more like, who have won it a stunning total of 10 times, between them. These two, are none other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Over the past decade, engaged in one of the fiercest sporting rivalries known to mankind, these two exemplary individuals have converted football's most coveted individual award into a prize at the end of a two-horse race, rendering everyone else, as quite simply, background noise.
Cristiano Ronaldo won his 5th Ballon d'Or in December 2017, to equal Lionel Messi's staggering tally, and ensured that we won't witness the end of the decade-old Messi v Ronaldo debate just yet.
While it is simply astonishing that no other player in the world has been able to break the duo's dominant duopoly, people are slowly beginning to under-value the Ballon d'Or, predominantly because of its predictability, and because of the sheer belief that it's no longer a fair race, but merely a bone of contention between two unstoppable individuals.
Has the Ballon d'Or truly become a bland drag race between two superstars? Is there any room for real competition?
This year's award has only just been awarded to Cristiano Ronaldo. However, as this brings him level with Lionel Messi, questions are already being raised over which one of these two inhuman beings will win it next year.
Will Leo edge past Ronaldo next year, or will it be the converse?
And just like that, scant disregard for the rest of the footballing community has ensured that next year, too, will be nothing short of a two-horse race.
Real Madrid's dominance has seen Cristiano Ronaldo win the Ballon d'Or 4 times in the last 5 years. The biggest question for the future, though, is which of these iconic legends will finally reign supreme and win a record 6th Ballon d'Or?
The way the current season has started, widespread belief suggests that it'll be Leo Messi standing on the podium, next December, with the Ballon d'Or in hand. Although, is that really what the diminutive Argentinian is aiming for?
That being said, here are 5 reasons why we believe Lionel Messi is presently bigger than the Ballon d'Or:
#5 Does Leo Messi even care about awards anymore?
Sure, everyone loves awards. They make you gush with pride, and effectively announce you to the world. The Ballon d'Or, specifically, announces you to the world as the best in it, which is a huge deal to most. Silverware, contrary to consolatory sayings, is what truly matters in the end, and every player out there, is in it to win it.
Except, Lionel Messi has won everything under the sun. Heck, he's probably widely celebrated amongst aliens as well. My heart goes out to the person in charge of maintaining and updating Messi's Wikipedia page, for his list of achievements, if listed vertically, puts the Mariana Trench's depth to shame.
5 Ballons d'Or, 5 European Golden Boots, 4 World Soccer World Player of the Years, 3 Don Balón Awards (La Liga Best Foreign Player), 2 UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, 1 FIFA World Player of the Year, and 1 UEFA Club Footballer of the Year only constitute a paltry fraction of Messi's list of individual awards.
Will one additional trophy, even if it's the Ballon d'Or, really validate something that hasn't already been validated?
Does Messi really need to be announced as the best player in the world, when he has already been widely hailed as the best for over a decade?
#4 5 Ballons d'Or validate enough
Lionel Messi made history way back in 2012, when he won his 4th Ballon d'Or, becoming the first player in the history of the game to do so. Only Michel Platini, Johan Cruyff, and Marco van Basten had won it thrice apiece.
To surpass 3 legends to win a 4th Ballon d'Or, at the mere age of 25, is no small feat. For context, consider this. No 25-year-old in the world, today, has won a single Ballon d'Or, let alone 4. Messi then went on to win it for a record 5th time in 2015.
Cristiano Ronaldo may have equalled that tally, but it looks rather unlikely that the Portuguese talisman will succeed in surpassing that number. Real Madrid are ostensibly struggling this season. But for a miraculous turnaround, Ronaldo could well miss out on the next one.
At 32, Ronaldo will not have too many opportunities left to beat Messi's tally, and even if they do finish their careers with an equal number of Ballons d'Or, Messi will still be joint-best and not second-best (for those of you who equate quality with silverware).
If 5 Ballons d'Or don't accurately validate his importance, a 6th one will make little difference, don't you think?
#3 Tumbling stock of the Ballon d'Or
The Ballon d'Or deems its winner as the best player in the world. Well, that's what it's supposed to do at least. However, as fate has dictated so far, the last decade has witnessed a slow, but steady drop in the sheer significance of the award.
That's what happens when an award open to all, is constantly given away to just 2 individuals. The Messi-Ronaldo duopoly has reduced the Ballon d'Or to a golden ball that simply adds fuel to the raging fire that is the Messi-Ronaldo debate.
Their rivalry has rendered world football's most prized individual award into just another award used to compare the two.
Some of the best players to have ever graced the game, have been forced to end their careers without so much as a sniff of the golden beauty. With unpredictability taken right out of the equation, the Ballon d'Or is no more a contest to determine the best player in the world, but merely determines the best player in this particular rivalry.
As a result, consolatory statements like "A player doesn't need to win a Ballon d'Or to prove that he's great" were coined as resignation to the fact that it's just a contest between two superhumans.
When the world has begun to downplay the immense significance of the award, what makes any of us think that Leo Messi holds it in highest regard? When we, the fans, treat it like just a formality, why should Leo Messi regard it above all else?
The Ballon d'Or's falling stock essentially tells us that it's not the be-all and end-all in world football, and should, quite frankly, be done away with.
#2 Team glory above all else
'Selfless' has been a word often used to describe Lionel Messi. On the pitch, the man can take on the world thrice over, all by himself, and win with his eyes closed. But, what defines him, is that he chooses not to.
The homuncular Argentinian takes on defences time and again, beats them time and again, finds himself in front of goal time and again, but unlike most other strikers, he is, most often than not, more than happy to slide the ball through to a teammate in a better position.
No, this isn't because he can't shoot. Oh boy! Can he shoot! Lionel Messi can shoot better than most. It's just that he isn't crippled by a constant desire to do so. While Cristiano Ronaldo has established himself as one of the finest hitmen to have played the game, there is no better creator than Leo Messi.
The 31-year-old has inculcated a firm belief in "There is no I in team", and has always strived to succeed as part of a team, rather than on his own. Throughout his career, Messi has constantly valued team success over all else.
While Ronaldo has received his fair share of criticism for being selfish, not once have such accusations been levelled at Messi. While the likes of Gareth Bale have faded away in Ronaldo's shadow, the likes of Neymar and Luis Suarez have risen spectacularly alongside Messi.
#1 The World Cup, and not the Ballon d'Or, is the only thing on Messi's mind
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. If that's true, Lionel Messi is, perhaps, borderline obsessed with the one trophy he has failed at getting his hands on. Yep, it so happens that this one trophy happens to be one of the biggest trophies in world football - The FIFA World Cup.
The magical Argentine has represented his country at 3 different editions of the World Cup, but has never run away with it. Messi made his World Cup debut in 2006 in Germany, against Serbia and Montenegro. Argentina crashed out of the 2006 World Cup, after losing to hosts, Germany in the quarter-finals, through penalties. Notably, Messi did not feature in that game.
4 years later, at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Argentina were widely hailed as one of the favourites to win the cup. However, Germany stepped up yet again, to send La Albiceleste right back home, humbling them 4-0 in the quarter-finals, yet again. Worst case of Deja Vu, eh?
In the 2014 World Cup, in Brazil, Leo Messi looked like he meant business and nothing else, as he captained Argentina, who subsequently romped past their group stage opponents. Messi, specifically, was in red-hot form as he picked up the Man of the match award in all of their first 4 games (including the round of 16 win against Switzerland)
He then played a crucial role in Argentina's 1–0 quarter-final win against Belgium, helping the Albiceleste qualify for the semi-finals of a World Cup, for the first time since 1990. They subsequently edged past the Dutch, knocking them out through a penalty shootout, before bowing out to Germany in the finals, who were boosted by Mario Gotze's 113th-minute winner.
Despite not winning the World Cup in 2014, Messi was named the best player of the tournament and was awarded the Golden Ball.
Now, Argentina have never won the World Cup in Messi's presence. Messi has not tasted as much success with Argentina, as he has with Barcelona. Both statements hold true. The 30-year old's significance is often undermined simply because he hasn't won a major tournament with his international side.
Argentina are a good team, no doubt. However, football still happens to be a team sport, and Leo Messi, as inhuman as he may appear, is still only human, and can only do so much on his own. Despite several stars seemingly vanishing when it counts, most of the criticism is, most often than not, unfairly hurled at Leo.
After 3 failed attempts, 1 of which, was by a whisker, you sure can bet that Lionel Messi only has one thing on his mind. Just one solitary agenda. Lift the World Cup. Silence all doubters. Which it will, mind you. As the World Cup, or lack thereof, is the only bone to pick, in what has been an otherwise glittery career.
As such, should someone offer him an option to trade a Ballon d'Or or two, for the World Cup, there's a sliver of possibility that Messi could indeed opt for a swap, albeit grudgingly.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. The World Cup is the only thing absent in the wizard's trophy room, and not the Ballon d'Or. Lionel Messi is the kind of person who goes after what he wants on a football pitch.
You do the math.
