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The 30 man Shortlist for the Ballon d’Or 2018 was released on Monday amid a lot of curiosity and excitement. The names were revealed in groups of 5 players each. The 30 footballers who are part of the list revealed yesterday are as under:
Sergio Aguero (Argentina and Manchester City), Alisson Becker (Brazil and Liverpool), Gareth Bale (Wales and Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (France and Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay and Paris Saint-Germain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Juventus), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium and Manchester City), Roberto Firmino (Brazil and Liverpool), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium and Real Madrid), Diego Godin (Uruguay and Atletico Madrid)
Antoine Griezmann (France and Atletico Madrid), Eden Hazard (Belgium and Chelsea), Isco (Spain and Real Madrid), Harry Kane (England and Tottenham), N’Golo Kante (France and Chelsea)
Hugo Lloris (France and Tottenham), Mario Mandzukic (Croatia and Juventus), Sadio Mane (Senegal and Liverpool), Marcelo (Brazil and Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (France and Paris St Germain)
Lionel Messi (Argentina and Barcelona), Luka Modric (Croatia and Real Madrid), Neymar (Brazil and Paris St Germain), Jan Oblak (Slovenia and Atletico Madrid), Paul Pogba (France andManchester United)
Ivan Rakitic (Croatia and Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain and Real Madrid), Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool), Luis Suarez (Uruguay and Barcelona), Raphael Varane (France and Real Madrid).
The 30 man shortlist for the Ballon d’Or 2018 includes a lot of talented footballers, however, there were some debatable inclusions as well, especially since there are some better footballers who have been completely ignored.
Today, we list the 4 footballers whose presence in the shortlist is questionable and provide alternative names who could have been included in their place.
#4 Alisson Becker
The Brazilian has been in fine form of late, conceding just 6 goals in 10 games in all competitions. He has picked up 5 clean sheets so far, all of which have been in the Premier League. He has transformed Liverpool into a title challenging side, by being strong in front of goal. He has also adjusted very quickly to the challenges of playing in the Premier League for the first time.
Alisson ended last season with 17 clean sheets for AS Roma in the League, joint second in the Serie A with Inter Milan’s Samir Handanovic and finishing behind Pepe Reina who had 18. He finished as runners-up in the UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Season, behind Real Madrid’s Keylar Nevas and was included in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the season. However, he did not win any trophy, neither did he have a great world cup and as such, his inclusion in the 30-man shortlist of the Ballon d’Or is questionable.
Player who missed out: David De Gea
De Gea might not have a great world cup and is having a slow start to the season, but the Spaniard won the Premier League Golden Glove last season and deserved a place in the shortlist.
#3 Mario Mandzukic
The Croatian had a fruitful 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he scored 3 goals and reached the final with his country, but ended up on the losing side. In the 2017/18 season, Mandzukic won the Serie A title and the Coppa Italia with Juventus, however, he scored only 10 goals from 43 games in all competitions in the whole season. In the Serie A, he found the net just 5 times in 32 appearances.
At the start of the new season, Mandzukic has been in good form and has scored 4 goals from games in all competitions so far. Incidentally, all of his 4 goals have been in the league, where he has almost equalled his goals tally from last season. Even with the advent of Cristiano Ronaldo, Mandzukic has evolved to become Juventus’ main man at present. However, none of that justifies his inclusion in the 30 man shortlist.
Player who missed out: Robert Lewandowski
The Polish striker scored 41 goals last season, won the Bundesliga with Bayern, was the top scorer in the league and has already scored 8 goals from 10 games this season. It is hard to explain why he was ignored!
#2 Sadio Mane
The Senegalese striker is another player who has been the reason behind Liverpool rise this season – he has already scored 4 goals in 11 appearances this season. Mane was instrumental in Liverpool’s run in the Champions League last season, scoring 10 goals in the tournament and 20 goals in all competitions in total. However, Mane did not win any silverware last season.
The Senegalese looks determined to change all that this season and has been asked to carry additional responsibilities at Anfield as Salah is experiencing second season syndromes now. Yet, even with all his qualities and abilities on the field, it is hard to justify Mane’s inclusion in the Ballon d’Or shortlist.
Player who missed out: Paulo Dybala
It is true that the Argentinean had a forgettable 2018 FIFA World Cup, but he was phenomenal last season, scoring 26 goals in all competitions and winning the Serie A and the Coppa Italia with Juventus. He has also scored 4 goals from 8 games so far this season, yet cruelly misses out from the shortlist.
#1 Karim Benzema
How the French Striker made it to the shortlisted 30 can only be explained by people who made the list. Benzema was extremely poor last season, scoring just 12 games in all competitions. He did win the UEFA Champions League, scoring 5 goals in the tournament. Yet his overall performance was so substandard – he scored just 5 goals in 32 games in La Liga – that he was not picked for the France National Team that went to Russia and won the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
This season though, Benzema has been better so far. He has already scored 5 goals from 11 games, in a bid to revive himself. But does that warrant a place among the 30 best football players in the World? You be the judge.
Player who missed out: Philippe Coutinho
The Brazilian was fabulous last season, though he played the first half for Liverpool before switching to Barcelona in the winter. Coutinho scored 22 goals in all competitions and picked up 14 assists, he also won the La Liga and the Copa del Rey with Barcelona. At the World Cup, he was Brazil’s creator in chief and also scored 2 goals. Coutinho certainly deserves to be in the 30 man shortlist for the 2018 Ballon d’Or and it is a shame that he has missed out.
