Ballon d’Or: 7 footballers who came second best and never won the trophy

Ballon d'Or
Ballon d'Or

#5 Raúl - 2001

Raúl González
Raúl González

Raúl González Blanco is considered as one of the best strikers in the history of Spanish football and one of the very best Real Madrid has ever produced. He played at Real Madrid for 16 years and was one of their prime strike force from 1994-2010, netting 228 goals from 550 appearances.

He came close to winning the Ballon d’Or award in the year 2001 when he was in his peak form. In the Ballon d’Or voting results, Raul came second best to the England striker Michael Owen, who got 176 points. Raul only received 148 points ahead of Oliver Kahn, who came third with 118 points. Raul could not better that position in any other year.

His consistent goal celebration of kissing his wedding ring is indicative of the family man that he is apart from being a terrific striker in the history of Spanish football.

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Edited by Sudeshna Banerjee
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