There are four glaring exclusions from the FIFA Ballon D’or list announced yesterday.
With the announcement of the FIFA Ballon D’or list came very little claims on who’s going to win it. I was however quite a bit surprised however with some of the glaring exclusions. Whereas Lionel Messi, Christiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery top the headlines amongst the most deserved to win the prestigious award, I was quite surprised on some of the players who were excluded and inexplicably not included despite their out of the world performances last season. This year the FIFA included 23 players whom they felt were the deserving, however I am not obliged to agree on their lines.
Trending
So here are the four players who should have perhaps made the list:
Marco Reus:
One of the world’s best upcoming talents already on display, Marco Reus is the new blend of German Football who has raw pace with incisive precision and dazzling ability to turn a game right on its head. With Mario Gotze now gone to the greener pastures of the Allianz Arena, Reus is the focal point of Borussia Dortmund’s lethal attacking prowess apart from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Robert Lewandowski and Jacukb Blaszczykowski. He created about 30 chances and made double the number of key passes in the Bundesliga last season. An integral member of the squad who finished runners up in the Champions League last campaign, Reus should have surely been on the list.
Mario Mandzukic:
Another player from the Bundesliga and this time we pick the Bayern Munich tall and lanky Croatian, Mario Mandzukic. I have been to Munich lately and my word do they rate him very highly. He scored 15 goals in 24 Bundesliga matches and has scored seven in 10 matches this campaign already. Under Jupp Heynckes more direct approach, he was given the responsibility of leading the line and boy did he do it with some panache. He not only kept Mario Gomez out of the side, this Bayern team won the Bundesliga, Champions League and the DFB-Pokal thus making history.
Arturo Vidal:
I am sure you have read my article on the top five players in World Cup qualifying. This Juventus midfielder is perhaps the best man to protect your back four in the world currently. From making late runs into the box to tracking back to help out his defence, this Chilean is perhaps the perfect epitome of the best box to box midfielder in the World currently. I won’t dwelve into stats for I feel he is someone whose performance would outnumber anyone in this list. Sadly only FIFA knows why he was left out.
Juan Mata:
If there is anyone who should have definitely been on the list, it should have been this diminutive Spaniard. Mata was absolutely sublime for the Blues last season. According to Squawka stats, he created an astonishing 95 chances, thus helping himself to 12 times apart from hitting the back of the net 12 times in 35 EPL appearances. Jose Mourinho might be playing Oscar in the number ten role so far for Chelsea this season, but do expect Mata to be at his devastating best when he is at the peak of his game. How on earth can FIFA not announce him on the 23 man list is beyond me.
Stats courtesy of Squawka
