The battle for the Ballon d’Or heats up this year after some stellar seasons from the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez. Unlike FIFA’s BEST Player of the Year award, the Ballon d’Or is now only voted for by journalists, with France Football announcing it tonight.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite for the award, although Lionel Messi has his fair share of supporters withing the footballing fraternity.
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Here are 10 football stars and managers backing Lionel Messi to win the 2016 Ballon d’Or award.
#1 Neymar Jr.
It’s hardly a surprise that Leo Messi’s teammate wants him to win, but Neymar’s words do carry some weight to them. The Brazilian outlined his reason for the Argentinian winning the award, saying “I don't know who will win, for me there is only one who's the best, that's Messi.”
Neymar did pay tribute to Ronaldo but still has the opinion that Leo Messi has been the best player this calendar year, despite the Portugal star winning trophies, saying “Ronaldo is a great player, he's world class and has been for many years and I respect him. But Messi is the one who deserves it, for me.”
Messi also has another teammate cheering for him, with Neymar not being the only one.
#2 Gerard Pique
Millions of words have been written about the eternal debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The Portugal star has had the more successful year in terms of major trophies, but Pique does not even want to consider it.
Ronaldo and Messi have fought a battle for the Ballon d’Or in the last few years, but Pique feels Messi should have had a clean sweep, saying “If the Ballon d'Or was given to the best player in the world, Leo would have won it every year since 2009. On another level.”
#3 Ali Daei
The Iranian legend holds the record for the most international goals in football, having racked up 109 goals – a figure both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are far behind. While Daei appreciates the qualities of all the nominees, he thinks Messi is a cut above the rest.
Speaking about the award, Daei made his opinion clearer, saying “I have never seen anyone like Messi. Antoine Griezmann also is a good player but Messi is the best. I like Cristiano Ronaldo as well but I think the Portuguese player takes advantage of his physical fitness. I also think Griezmann is more creative than Ronaldo and he has room to improve.”
“Diego Maradona is one of the best players in the world but due to man marking system in modern football, I think Messi is a better player than him. Modern football differs in many respects from football in the past. In my opinion, Messi deserves to win Ballon d'Or.”
#4 Diego Forlan
Forlan was Ronaldo’s teammate at United and explained why he thinks Messi is better, saying “There is one part of his game that I wish he would not have changed. When I played with him and in his first years at Real Madrid, he used to go past players for fun, like Messi. Now he is more of a finisher, a killer in front of goal.”
“Messi has that too, but he also has the ability to go past two or three players and change a game. He deserves the Ballon d’Or”
#5 Steven Gerrard
When asked about the Ronaldo and Messi, Gerrard initially chose to appreciate the contribution of both, saying “We're living in an era where Messi and Ronaldo are taking forward play to a level we've never seen before. Choosing between them is like having to choose between Pele and [Diego] Maradona, because they are recording numbers that are incredible – more than 800 goals in club football between them alone.”
However, Gerrard narrowly picked out Messi as his favourite, saying “Years ago, a striker who scored 30 goals in a season in all competitions was recognised as a world-class player, but these two are doubling that. To split them is almost impossible. If I was forced to pick one, I would probably go for Messi, but that's only because he's slightly more of a team player – he might just provide more assists or final passes, but it would be 51% to 49% in my mind.”
#6 Javier Saviola
Javier Saviola has played with Lionel Messi for Argentina, but also outlined how great Ronaldo is as well, saying “I love how Messi plays football. If I had to choose a favourite player, I would definitely choose him. It is about taste, I like Messi better, but there is no doubt that Cristiano is a great player. Cristiano Ronaldo is a machine, physically powerful. Messi is more skilful and he brings more of a spectacle when he comes onto the pitch. When they finish their careers, both will be among the best in history – that is beyond doubt.”
#7 Philippe Coutinho
The Brazilian does not even consider Ronaldo for this year’s award, saying “My top three players in the world are the MSN trio. One is fast, the other is skilful, then there's the top scorer, so they really complete each other.”
“ Obviously there are others at Real Madrid too, like Cristiano Ronaldo, but those three [Messi, Suarez and Neymar] complete each other.”
#8 Samuel Eto’o
Eto’o was reported to have said “I am forced to recognise that Cristiano Ronaldo has branded the history of football more than my friend Messi. Because all that Messi has won Cristiano also won but unfortunately Messi did not win all that Ronaldo has won and will never win them.”
“Ronaldo has won trophies with Portugal, in England and in Spain while my friend Messi only wins in Spain. It's a shame but it's also the football.”
The Cameroonian then took to Instagram to utterly refute these quotes, saying “I would like to find the source of this... I meant this information, not intoxication. For, except amnesia or schizophrenia on my part, I have no recollection of such a declaration, it is both false and defamatory. That said the reputation of this medium, should save me the need to make use of more than these few lines as denial.”
#9 Brendan Rodgers
Brendan Rodgers actually hopes Luis Suarez would win, but then opted for a realistic choice in Messi, saying “If you're talking about the Ballon d'Or and the last year then I don't think there's been any player better than Luis Suarez. In terms of that award, I think he would be very deserving of it in terms of how he's played, what he's given the team, how he's carried the team and the level that he's played at consistently.”
“But listen, Lionel Messi is a player that I've admired since I saw him as a young player, a teenager. I've seen him come into the team at 16,17 and the last ten years he's been remarkable. His quality and just the things he's done in the game are magical. I've had the fortune to work with Luis so I know first-hand his qualities but they're both brilliant players.”
#10 Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique works with Lionel Messi every day and thus almost considers it blasphemy to even think about comparing him to Ronaldo, saying that Messi “is the best player of all time, regardless of an award, and to even doubt that is ridiculous”.
