5 most surprising Ballon d'Or candidates of all time

#4 Antonios Nikopolidis (2004)

The keeper was capped 90 times for Greece

This Greek keeper largely owes his place on the list to Greece's stunning Euro triumph in 2004. The Ballon d'Or voters deemed him to be worthy of the 24th spot at the 2004 awards which is shocking considering that Zinedine Zidane placed just one place higher after his own fantastic showing at the Euros.

No big clubs came calling for the keeper despite his International success and he quietly completed the remainder of his career in the Greek top flight.