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Just when you thought that the race for the title of the world’s best footballer is tilting one way, a guy named Cristiano Ronaldo steps up and scores a ruthless hat trick to take his nation to Brazil. What a way to say – you just can’t ignore me. And then there is that French maestro named Franck Ribery who keeps proclaiming that he feels no fear from the competitors and is confident of walking away with the trophy. Of course, you wouldn’t make the mistake of ignoring the four-time winner and the current reigning champion – the Argentine wizard who goes by the name of Lionel Messi. With these three pretty much expected to make the final cut, it won’t be easy to separate the best from the rest.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, or simply Cristiano Ronaldo, has seen the golden ball passed on to the hands of Leo Messi on the previous four occasions. But this time, it seems he is in no mood to let go of the coveted trophy. With 67 goals in 2013 for both club and country, he certainly is throwing caution to the wind. On a lighter note, he has scored more goals than Liverpool or Tottenham this season and his so-called rivals – Messi and Ribery – have a combined tally of 64. After his recent hat-trick against Sweden, he stands on par with Pauleta as the top goal scorer for Portugal. Reacting to this feat, former England striker Gary Linker said, “I don’t care how many trophies Ribery has won, the best player is the best player. And this year that is indisputably Cristiano Ronaldo.” Now with the extension of the voting deadline clashing with Ronaldo’s brace, the Portuguese has done absolutely no harm to his prospects of winning the award.
Ronaldo’s recent spat with FIFA president Sepp Blatter attracted a lot of headlines. With the former blaming the latter for favouritism and bias, Blatter had to apologize but continued with his right to choose the ‘favourite one’. This makes the situation more complex in case the award evades Ronaldo yet again.
Nevertheless, this might be the year of ‘Remarkable Ronaldo’. The time might be apt to say – ‘Keep Calm and let Ronaldo score!!’
Franck Ribery
If winning trophies is the criterion for being awarded the Ballon d’Or, then this 30-year-old Frenchman stands second to none. He was the force behind Bayern’s treble and his effort has already been recognized with the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award. One might argue that Bayern’s pie of success can be split between Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller, Arjen Robben and Philipp Lahm apart from Ribery. But then Messi has won the award quite a few times when Xavi and Iniesta were no less responsible for Barca’s dominance.
Ribery has not shied from publicly proclaiming the bright additions to his curriculum vitae this year. He recently commented, “I think I deserve it. Before I was a good player, now I think I’m the best. I have no fear, I am confident. I have done all I had to. If you look at my performances all year long, I have made the difference. I may not score in every match but I set the defences on fire. Ronaldo certainly scores goals, but I do too. He certainly scores more than I do, but we don’t have the same style.”
And his claims are perfectly backed by statistics. He stands ahead of his rivals in terms of his goal-creation ability, with 20 assists in 2013 which is three more than Messi and five more than Ronaldo. He might not be a raw goal-scorer like the other two but the French show-stopper is certainly a more complete player. Not many people can match this man’s attacking prowess and he proved it when he ran rings around the Catalan defence in the 2013 Champions League semi final and then again when he provided the match winning assist in the final. He ran an amazing 11,850 metres per 90 minutes played in all Champions League 2013 matches on average (and yes nobody comes even close to it, with Messi registering about 7,800 metres and Ronaldo even less).
Franck Ribery is certainly the best player in the world’s best team at present. He has risen to stardom from the dark abyss of anonymity. The Ballon d’Or to Ribery would mean recognition for a selfless and legendary effort to lead a team into the history books. One of his fans rightly stated, “Ribéry is somebody who slips up and then gets up, that’s why I’m a fan. He’s the anti-handsome, the anti-Cristiano Ronaldo. And the anti-Messi – not colourless, odourless and tasteless.”
Lionel Messi
Words might become a bit clichéd to describe a man who has been adjudged as the “best” for the past four years. This insanely prolific Argentine wizard enjoyed yet another fantastic season, with his 46 goals sealing the league title for his club Barcelona. His unprecedented prospect for a fifth successive “Golden Ball” was somewhat hampered by his recent injury. He is expected to be out of action until 2014.
Messi’s claim to the award can be understood by taking the entire period of 2012-2013 rather than just the recent turn of events into consideration. With his 46 goals in the 2012/13 campaign, Lionel Messi went on to claim the European Golden Shoe for the third time, becoming the first player in history to do so. In the Champions league, he is just six shy of Raul’s tally of 71 to become the leading goal scorer of all time. The 2012-13 season saw the diminutive Argentine scoring 60 goals and providing 16 assists in 50 appearances including all club competitions as compared to Ronaldo’s figures of 55 goals and 12 assists in 55 appearances.
The Argentine talisman may be down due to injury but he is certainly not out. The Blaugrana chief Sandro Rosell was recently quoted as saying – “First Leo, second Leo and third Leo. As long as people (the voters) take no notice of political or media pressure, the Ballon d’Or will be for Messi.” Well certainly, we live in an era where “Messi” and “Magic” are used as synonyms and few will make the mistake of ruling out the four time champion. So are we in for some more ‘Messi Magic’?
13 January, 2014 will decide who will walk away with the Ballon d’Or; but the case at hand is undoubtedly as complex as any of Sherlock Holmes’ weirdest murder mysteries. If this was a prize handed to the most talented in the world, then Messi would walk away with it each year until he retired. If this was to reward the player who scored the most goals, then Ronaldo would win it this year. If it were a reward for the leading player in the best team with most trophies then Ribery is right up there. If it was to be given to the player who scored the crucial goals in the most vital games then Arjen Robben is a serious contender. But the answer is not exactly that simple. It is neither white nor black, it is grey. It lies somewhere amidst the objectivity of the electorate itself and collective perception of the voters.
Whatever happens on that day and whoever wins it, the football world will applaud one of its brightest stars being handed the recognition for his brightness.
So after all this number crunching and brain teasing, the question remains – “What is the solution to this Curious Case of the Ballon d’Or?” Sherlock would’ve have said – Elementary, my dear Watson!
