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Ballon d'Or is one of the most prestigious awards in the football world presented annually by France Football. The player who wins the award is accepted as the best footballer of the year.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were the two top runners to get this award for the past decade, but none of them winning any championships with their national teams might just pave the way for a new winner this year with the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann and Luka Modric all being in contention for the coveted award.
There were few surprise inclusions in the top 30 list of the Ballon d'Or nominations as there were players who were out of form in the 2017-18 season. Some players were included in the list even though they could not do much at the International or World Cup level with their respective nations.
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Here is the list of three players whose inclusion in the top 30 nominees list for the Ballon d'Or had the potential to surprise many.
#1. Karim Benzema
Karim Benzema has been the go-to striker for Real Madrid since he joined the team in 2009. Benzema was brilliant with his movements on the pitch initially when he joined the Madrid club. Scoring for fun, providing assists to his fellow striker was the main role of Benzema during those days.
It has been years since we have seen Benzema score some extraordinary goals and his poacher movement in the box which made him special in the striking zone. Benzema along with Cristiano Ronaldo were two deadly attackers any team would want, though Ronaldo became a legend himself leaving Benzema behind by 25 to 30 goals each season.
As we all know Benzema is nominated in the Top 30 of the Ballon d'Or list, many fans and pundits are surprised with this inclusion and so are we. Benzema scored just 12 goals in all competitions in the entire 2017-18 season but still managed to get into the world-class top 30 list of footballers. The Frenchman's inclusion is probably one of the biggest surprises of this season apart from Ronaldo joining Juventus.
#2- Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale has been one of the greatest players to put on the Tottenham Hotspurs jersey. He is ruthless with his left foot finishes and providing assists to his fellow mates. His goal scoring stats in the Premier League was the main reason behind the Spurs' evolution into the team that they are today.
Real Madrid saw Bale's skillset and were ready to bring him to the club which they did for a record fee in 2013. Since then, Bale has never been the player we had seen during his days in the Premier League.
The major reasons for the underperformance of the speedster are his injuries and the very few matches he has been playing each season for Real Madrid. Whenever Bale plays he makes sure he is up to the Real Madrid benchmark but has always been found guilty of poor passing and sometimes even selfish gameplay.
It is not that Bale is not a good player but he was injured half of the last Champions League winning-season (17/18) for the Los Blancos although he scored twice in the final. Being shortlisted in the Top 30 list is a big achievement for him as an individual since Ronaldo carried Madrid on his back until the UEFA Champions League final.
#3- Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez, one of the deadliest strikers Liverpool FC ever produced but taken away by one of the greatest club in the world, FC Barcelona. Suarez has been one of the most prolific strikers that the world has ever seen along with Lewandowski and Wayne Rooney. Just like the other two players, even Suarez has been underestimated in his game, most of which is due to 5 time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi.
Suarez has found it difficult to keep up with the talent and ability his teammates, Messi and Coutinho, posses. Though Coutinho is not included in the list as he played lesser games due to his transfer issues from Liverpool to Barca but has always been a level up compared to Suarez.
Suarez initially was out of form in 2017/18 LaLiga season but upped his ante as he scored 25 goals in the league competition but never replicated this form in Champions League which was one of the main failure for Barca in the UEFA Competition.
Suarez was a surprise entry in the top 30 list of Ballon d'Or nominations owing to his lack of consistency. Open goal misses, inability to assist other players and sometimes lacking movement off the ball are among his follies.
These resulted in him scoring 31 goals in all competitions last season from 51 matches and not contributing much towards the Uruguay national team during the World Cup as Cavani stole the show. Suarez scored only 2 goals from 5 matches that Uruguay played at the World Cup.
Suarez like Gareth Bale has never got the credit Messi or Isco gets in Barca and Real Madrid respectively as they are the ones creating chances, breaking the defences, playing like individuals on a mission to be greatest players on the planet which makes Suarez a surprise entrant in the top 30 list.
Suarez given his ability and talent can be the deadliest striker again but has to be consistent like Messi, Ronaldo or even Mandzukic for that matter, on this note we would like to say that "Suarez is the Striker we know, but nomination in the top 30, we don’t".
