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The Ballon d'Or is back among the headlines once again. With the release of the 30-man shortlist, the race is wide open. Lionel Messi is in the running for his seventh honor and is being regarded as a favorite to take the trophy home, but there could be a surprise nonetheless.
Since its inception in 1956, the Ballon d'Or has been seen as a trademark of greatness. It is the biggest individual honor conferred on footballers. Of course that is a statement which might divide opinion but there is no doubt that fans continue to go gaga over Ballon d'Or.
Goals win you games and goals win you titles, but for every man who scores one, there is one who tries to stop one (without the gloves). However, the award usually favors those born to score goals and sometimes those that facilitate the scoring of goals from the middle of the park. Defenders, meanwhile, are almost always overlooked.
Several great defenders have narrowly missed out on the Ballon d'Or
The game has certainly been unfair to defenders in terms of personal accolades and it is said that sometimes great names have come very close to these awards. Here are the five greatest defenders who made it into the top three of the Ballon d'Or but failed to win it in the end:
#5 Roberto Carlos
An idol to many modern full-backs, there weren't many who could kick a ball as ferociously as Roberto Carlos. The Brazilian made the Ballon d'Or podium once in his lifetime in 2002. He finished second as he saw fellow countryman and Real Madrid teammate Ronaldo Nazario win the honor for a second time.
Undoubtedly, the 2001-02 campaign was the Brazilian's best of his career as he won the FIFA World Cup with Brazil and his third UEFA Champions League with Real Madrid. Carlos started 31 games for Real Madrid in the Spanish top-flight that season and scored on three occasions. He provided five assists each in La Liga and the Champions League.
The left-back was dangerously skilled in dead-ball situations. The internet is crowded with Carlos' incredible free kicks, the most notable of them being his 1997 free-kick from almost 30 yards away against France. If FIFA had started giving the Puskas award in 1990s, there was no way they'd let this gem miss out.
For a man who needed science to explain his goals, it is truly sad to see how closely the Ballon d'Or eluded Carlos.
#4 Giacinto Facchetti
It is often said that the great generation of Italy's defenders is a dying breed in today's day and age. So we roll back the clock to 1960s where one Giacinto Facchetti, way ahead of his time, was defying the norms. He crushed stereotypes of traditional Italian defending by providing the entertainment desired by modern full-backs.
Facchetti emerged as the runner-up to the 1965 Ballon d'Or after finishing behind Eusébio, considered the greatest player to ever don a Benfica jersey. He dedicated his 18 years of service in football to Inter Milan, a one-club man like so many from his age, especially in Italy.
A full-back with Facchetti's attributes was a rare sight. His pace and willingness to join in the final third, his ability to provide cutting edge passes and his physique were an unbeatable package. The adventurous Ballon d'Or runner-up scored 75 goals in over 600 appearances for the Nerazzurri.
It was in those days that Inter became the "Grande Inter" and dominated world football and at the center of it all was an unpredictable, highly effective and bullyish Facchetti.
It's safe to say Fachetti was really unlucky to have not won the Ballon d'Or during his career.
#3 Bobby Moore
Once again, in what was the case of a forward beating a defender to the coveted Ballon d'Or, Bobby Moore stood second only to German legend Gerd Muller in 1970. Muller's 38 goals for Bayern Munich and the 10 goals he scored in the World Cup in Mexico, made him the first German to win the Ballon d'Or.
Widely considered by many as one of the greatest defenders to ever grace the game of football, Moore is no short of a mythical figure in England. Pele's description of Moore as the "greatest defender" he had gone up against only added to the Englishman's glowing reputation.
The West Ham legend was also a key figure as the World Cup "came home" to England in 1966. He was an immaculate figure with the captain's armband and there haven't been many who inherited that DNA to perfection in future England squads.
The "perfect sliding tackle" is a phrase that has been synonymous with the England legend and there were hardly any who would execute it better. The Ballon d'Or runner-up in the 1970 World Cup threw himself in an exceptionally timed tackle to stop Brazil's Jarzinho in his tracks from scoring. That moment is the definition of Moore for many.
#2 Franco Baresi
Let's cross the Milan divide from Inter legend Giacinto Facchetti to AC Milan's all-time great Franco Baresi. He was imperious in his two decades at Milan and won almost everything a footballer could have won. How he didn't win the Ballon d'Or in those two decades, well, it purely boils down to the individuals that wore the Milan jersey.
The likes of Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit were the dominant forces in the late 1980s and early 1990s and yet again the skewed nature of the Ballon d'Or was visible. Baresi epitomized the word impenetrable and truly showed its translation on field. He would read the game at a speed faster than it was being played at.
Yet the man who made the sweeper role his, had no lapses in judgment. On top of that, his discipline in defending only made it more enticing to stare at his elegance. He made the Ballon d'Or podium on the back of AC Milan's European Cup in 1989.
AC Milan declared Baresi their 'Player of the Century' in 1999, and in 2000 he was conferred with the title of AIC Serie A's Player of the Century. Ballon d'Or? What again?
#1 Paolo Maldini
As far as the greatness in terms of Ballon d'Or is concerned, Paolo Maldini was the only defender after Franz Beckenbauer who made the podium on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, the AC Milan legend couldn't win it like 'Der Kaiser' on both occasions. But hey, that doesn't take any bit away from the giant reputation of the Eternal King of Calcio.
Maldini had AC Milan running through his veins as the Italian went on to make a record 902 appearances for the Rossoneri. He started his career as a right-back before shifting to the left. To say that Maldini was brilliant in his ambidexterity would be an understatement.
The Milan legend finished twice in third place on the Ballon d'Or podium, once in 1994, and second in 2003. That period is a testament to the effectiveness and dominance that Maldini has had over his long spanning career. Despite missing out on the Ballon d'Or, the Italian nonetheless had a year decorated with laurels.
He won his third Champions League with Milan and reached the final of the 1994 World Cup. In the same year, Maldini became the first defender ever to win the World Soccer magazine's World Player of the Year award.
He always spoke very highly of Franco Baresi, and the Milan defense featuring those two was godly. In 196 matches they played together, the Rossoneri let in a miserly 26 goals. Surely the Ballon d'Or regrets not having gone into Maldini's hands.
