Ballon d'Or 2016: 5 players lucky to be in the top 17

Modified Dec 13, 2016 10:36 GMT

#1 Toni Kroos – Rank 17

Somewhat controversially on this list is Toni Kroos. While the Real Madrid midfielder has been one of the most effective performers for Los Blancos, the All Whites have shown that they can cope pretty well in his absence as well.

Some people found it sacrilegious that the German playmaker was ranked as low as 17^th, but with his club side captain, Sergio Ramos failing to get any vote, Madrid fans will be the first to admit the importance of Ramos over Kroos.

The only reason Kroos is on this list is that players like Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta do not make it. The German definitely deserves a place on the 30 man shortlist, but whether he deserves to be ranked above Ramos, Iniesta, De Bruyne, Dybala and et.al, remains a matter of debate.

Mr Assist & Mr +90 pic.twitter.com/RX7S9XgR5U
— Team Kroos (@SupportingKroos) December 11, 2016

Expand Tweet

In all honesty, both these players deserved to be in the top 17.

About the author

A Bengaluru lad through and through, Ashwin Hanagudu is a huge fan of Liverpool and unsurprisingly pledges his sworn allegiance to RCB in the IPL. With over 8+ years of experience in this field, Ashwin manages multiple verticals at Sportskeeda and as of July 2024 is the most-read author in the football section.

Apart from his duties at Sportskeeda, Ashwin Hanagudu is also an active table tennis player and has played multiple state ranking and national tournaments representing Karnataka.

A huge sports fan, some of the athletes and sportspersons he admires in no particular order are Virat Kohli, Steven Gerrard, Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu

Know More

Edited by Staff Editor