Xavi picks Messi ahead of Ribéry and Ronaldo for Ballon d’Or

Xavi

Barcelona midfielder Xavi has picked the player he would want to win the Ballon d’Or. And if it were up to him, he said that he would go with none other than Lionel Messi. His second choice is Franck Ribery and Cristiano Ronaldo only came third in his list.

“Leo has won the award for four straight years and that could harm his chances in the voting. If we look at the best player in the world, that is Messi, end of argument.”

Every national team’s captain has one vote and Spanish captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas will have a say.

But Xavi did say that if he considered just the year 2013, then it would be tough to pick Messi as the clear winner, “However, if we’re talking about the best player of 2013, then I admit there is room for debate.”

The winner of the Ballon d’Or will be announced early next year.

The 23-man short list includes Gareth Bale (Wales), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovi? (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Luis Suárez (Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Brazil), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain).