Three players who deserve to win the Ballon d'Or

What a season of breath-taking European football it has been so far! After a sensational year of football action at the club level which saw teams like Manchester City, Juventus, Real Madrid, and Borussia Dortmund emerge victorious in the continent’s top domestic leagues and Chelsea F.C. memorably defying all odds to clinch their first ever Champions League, the excitement headed towards a grander stage – The Euro Championship. As the countdown to the ‘big final’ between Spain and Italy narrows down to last few hours, one can sit and ponder for a while about some of the standout performers for club and country in the year that went by.

In the past few seasons, the prestigious Ballon d’Or award has been frequently associated with two names in particular, thanks to their ridiculous statistical dominance in modern day football, and I’m not even going to bother to name them. While the Portuguese trickster has lost the Argentine wizard for the last three years in a row, one would finally sense that ‘Cr7′ may finally have his moment of glory. However, before fans get carried away, I would like to mention three players who equally deserve to stake their claim as the world’s best player in 2011/12. So, without much further ado lets begin.

Gianluigi Buffon ( Juventus F.C./ Italy)

KIEV, UKRAINE – JUNE 30: Gianluigi Buffon of Italy in action during a training session at Olympic Stadium on June 30, 2012 in Kiev, Ukraine. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)

‘Gigi’ has probably enjoyed one of the best seasons of his glittering career in 2011/12. He was one of the shining lights along with Andrea Pirlo in Juventus’ successful season where the ‘Old Lady’ went unbeaten throughout the Serie A and won the ‘Scudetti’ for the first time since 2002/03. He is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in football history and his Serie A stats for 2011/12 shows why – 21 clean sheets in 35 appearances along with 79 excellent saves.

He was instrumental for Juventus in many stages of the season with one of the high points being his penalty save against Francesco Totti. He carried his sizzling club form onto the international stage and has led Italy by example to take them to the finals against all odds. Once again, he was simply brilliant throughout the tournament, especially in the semi-final against Germany where he pulled out some unbelievable saves. Also his save off Cesc Fabregas and bullying Fernando Torres in the group stage encounter, earlier in the competition, were typical ‘Buffon moments’. The Ballon D’Or award has garnered a notorious reputation of neglecting goalkeepers and defenders in favor of forwards and attacking midfielders, however, this time he will be giving Michel Platini and Co. a lot to ponder about.

Andrea Pirlo (Juventus F.C./ Italy)

WARSAW, POLAND – JUNE 28: Andrea Pirlo of Italy in action during the UEFA EURO 2012 semi final match between Germany and Italy at the National Stadium on June 28, 2012 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

If one ever had to see a live example of what the term ‘rebirth’ really means, then watching Andrea Pirlo in action in 2011/12 is the best thing to do. At the age of 33, his former club AC Milan relieved him off his duties in the summer transfer window of 2011 and was shipped to Juventus for free. Little did AC Milan know back then what a suicidal move it would turn out to be. The fading star re-emerged and shone as brightly as ever to inspire Juventus to Seria A glory. In fact, I would go as far as saying that AC Milan literally handed the trophy to Juventus by transferring the veteran midfield maestro. ‘Larchitetto’ literally designed Juventus successful season through his mesmerizing passing and vision.

Pirlo racked up 13 assists through the course of Serie A, the most in the season and also scored three goals. What makes his achievements even more special is his contribution in guiding Juventus to go unbeaten in Serie A. Like his club team-mate Buffon, he too has been phenomenal for Italy in Euro, 2012. Actually, ‘stop Pirlo to stop Italy’ has been the modus operandi of all teams that come in the Azzuri’s way. His cracking free-kick against Croatia in the group stage and his cheeky yet classy ‘Panenka’ in Italy’s quarter-final victory over England were universally lauded. The man just seems unstoppable these days and if Italy are to cause any problems to Spain tonight, rest assured Pirlo will be right at the heart of it all. And if the Henri Delaunay trophy does make its way to Italy, there will not be a more deserving recipient of the Ballon D’Or next January.

Xavi Hernandez (F.C. Barcelona/ Spain)

DONETSK, UKRAINE – JUNE 27: Xavi Hernandez of Spain in action during the UEFA EURO 2012 semi final match between Portugal and Spain at Donbass Arena on June 27, 2012 in Donetsk, Ukraine. (Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)

What can be said about the Barca midfield engine that wasn’t be said before. After falling cruelly short of Ronaldo and Messi in 2011/12, he surely deserves to be right in the top three once again for the Ballon d’Or. Though this season, he hasn’t been as inspirational as the two players mentioned above, if Spain wins the Euro 2012 tonight, the man should be paid his dues. He has been one of Spain’s best players along with Cesc Fabregas and Andres Iniesta in the competition so far.

He has completed the most amount of passes in the tournament, 509 and has been a true leader on the pitch. Also, though Barca did not win La Liga or Champions’ League or La Liga in 2011/12, Xavi enjoyed his best season in terms of goals (10) scored in a single La Liga season, a personal achievement. Also, he chipped in with 7 assists last season. After getting agonizingly close to claiming the coveted prize for two consecutive seasons, he will surely want to make sure he gets it this time. And in case, Spain do win the Euro, it will be baffling to not see him win what he deserves, unless Pirlo or Buffon end up with the trophy.