FIFA Ballon d'Or: The burning debate

Back home in Goa, I’ve debated this at the bar, on the ground, at the club, at church, over countless arguments on BBM group chat and every other possible place where one’s voice can be heard; Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi, the debate rages on.

I will write this article without prejudice, for it has become a trend for the Manchester/Madrid camps to be inclined towards Ronaldo’s end, and the Barcelona and everyone on the Anti-Manchester/Madrid bandwagon to support Messi.

Rather than compare the two side by side, let’s look at the history of the last 5 Ballon d’Ors that have gone by, which has been the source of fuel for fire for this raging debate.

Year 2008:

FIFA World Player of the Year

Winner: Cristiano RonaldoRunner Up: Lionel MessiSecond Runner up: Fernando Torres

Ballon d’Or

Winner: Cristiano RonaldoRunner Up: Lionel MessiSecond Runner up: Fernando Torres

Verdict

No debate here. Ronaldo had a remarkable season, with Manchester United winning the double of the Champions League and Premier League. I know exactly what you are thinking, in the this modern day and age, is that Torres who came third? Shocking it may be, but true.

Year 2009:

FIFA World Player of the Year

Winner: Lionel MessiRunner Up: Cristiano RonaldoSecond Runner up: Xavi

Ballon d’Or

Winner: Lionel MessiRunner Up: Cristiano RonaldoSecond Runner up: Xavi

Verdict

Without a shadow of a doubt, it was the little Argentinian’s year, and after winning the sextuple [six trophies] in one season, no one could question his claim to it! Pep’s eleven built around Messi, Xavi & Iniesta had a truly outstanding season and they won it with their brand of tika-taka football.

FIFA World Player of the Year merges with Ballon d’Or

Year 2010:

FIFA Ballon d’Or

Winner: Lionel MessiRunner Up: IniestaSecond Runner up: XaviThird Runner Up: Wesley Snejider

Verdict

This season for me was the most baffling! Wesley Sneijder won the Champions League, Seria A, Coppa Italia, Italian Supercopa and the Club World Cup. To add to this, the Dutch midfield maestro led Netherlands to the World Cup finals only to lose out a closely contested match to Spain.

Lionel Messi, on the other hand, won the La Liga, scoring 47 goals in the progress, but had a quiet World Cup, most notably failing to find the back of the net and taking a 4-0 spanking from the Germans.

This particular season, the biggest losers were Wesley Sneijder and Andres Iniesta. Sneijder won five trophies and was a runner up at the World Cup. Andres Iniesta, along with his team mate Xavi, guided Barcelona to retain La Liga, and to add to that Iniesta won the World Cup and scored that winning goal in the finals.

This was daylight robbery!

Year 2011:

FIFA Ballon d’Or

Winner: Lionel MessiRunner Up: Cristiano RonaldoSecond Runner up: Xavi

Verdict

And here’s where the rivalry resumes. Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest scorer in La Liga and the driving force behind a new look Madrid who finish second to Barcelona in the league, though losing out to them in the Copa del Rey after Ronaldo nets the winner. This situation becomes very ironical in the year to come. It is justifiable in Messi’s favour largely because he has inspired the team that goes on to win the La Liga and the Champions League.

I must say it is difficult to deny a player who has won two important trophies, and it was the right decision even though Ronaldo’s season was outstanding. Messi’s just had that extra important bit of silverware to show for it.

Fair decision.

Year 2012:

FIFA Ballon d’Or

Winner: Lionel MessiRunner Up: Cristiano RonaldoSecond Runner up: Iniesta

Verdict

Of the lot, this is the most hypocritical of the awards. Irony as you would have it has come back to haunt us. Yes, Messi did break records and garner many individual records, scoring an unprecedented 91 goals, having come second in La Liga with the only trophy to show being the Copa Del Rey.

Ronaldo, with Real Madrid, had an outstanding season: they won La Liga and they did it with some class, in triple digits. A 100 point haul in a single season is unheard of. Clinching that title with a 2-1 win at the Nou Camp with the winning goal by Ronaldo was priceless. Let it never be said that the boy never performed in the big games.

He went on to score a brace against Bayern, however in vain. Critics will be quick to point out that he had his penalty saved; one must not be quick to forget that Messi missed a crucial penalty in the game at Stamford Bridge.

Roll on the European Championships, and Ronaldo’s form continued. He single-handedly carried Portugal to the semifinals, heartbreakingly losing another semifinal via the shootout.

Very, very debatable decision.

Very debatable? Why, you ask? I will explain.

Judging on the calendar year

In the modern era you would be mad to deny a player scoring 91 goals over a period of 365 days a World Player of the Year, and there are no arguments about it. To give you food for thought, Lionel Messi has scored more bloody goals than the whole of Liverpool combined!

Judging on the Season

You are talking about judging players over two halves (start and finish of a season), over two separate seasons, with international friendlies/competitions in between. It makes absolutely no sense.

Everybody reading this knows that before the 2012-2013 season rolled on, that trophy was bound to be going the Portuguese talisman’s way. Messi did break Muller’s record, but one must remember that when Muller broke the record himself, he wasn’t awarded the World Player of the Year.

What’s said and done cannot be changed, and to cry over spilled milk is a waste of time. I firmly believe that the ‘FIFA Ballon d’Or’, in order to have credibility, must introduce awards based on the season gone by, and in addition to that, introduce awards to acknowledge players in other positions.

Add a Goalkeeper of the Year award, add a Defender of the Year award, add a Forward of the Year award, and above all have the FIFA Ballon d’Or to acknowledge a player’s importance to his team during the particular season.

The award currently is more of a popularity contest to be honest, and when it boils down to that, all of Ronaldo’s efforts to be the best goes to vain.

Let’s face it, on one hand you have the humble Messi who wants to just play football day in and day out, an ideal role model, something every kid can look up to and aspire to be, and this is something FIFA has noticed. On the other hand you have an equally talented counterpart. He doesn’t drink, doesn’t have tattoos, contributes towards charity, but along with his football comes his ego, tantrums and celebrity lifestyle.

If this trophy be the measure of a player’s worth, let it be said that it is a poor and inconsistent measure, as Messi should have two Ballon d’Ors and not four. With the current state of the awards, nothing will change. At the rate Messi’s going, by the time this little fellow retires he’s easily looking at amassing another four to five FIFA Ballon d’Ors. It should be given to him by all means if he deserves it, but it’s just that the playing field should be evened.