Re: The Official Balon d'Or 2014 Thread

[Harmonica]

Well vanity is a big point, but it's not everything.

[Bankz]

Germans wanting a german to win? Strange. Btw, i'm still waiting for a meaningful argument as to why cr7 should win the award. Thought the top scorers award for last season have already been given? Moreso the award should be held off this year, too much cons for every player to justifiably win the award. This is one madafakin boring year individually. Cr7 has been brilliant but he's already and fittingly swooped all the top scorer awards, robben has been great but not meaningfuly better than any top player, neuer has been clutch but, c'mon now, benzema has been decisive but valdez has a better shot at winning the award at this point, neymar has been brilliant but not good enough to be world best, muller has been impressive but him winning would be lol worthy, aguero has done nothing meaningful this year to be in the discussion, and we all know messi isnt going to win, plus he hasn't been his usual best

[farfan]

Ronaldo is the fitting guy to win it, in every sense.

Probably the most stupid comment I've read in here. What actually is the argument for Cronaldo?

put a sock in it .

i'm pretty sure that if messi were to die on february 2015 , you'll certainly find some statistical argument as to why he deserves to win the BO 2015 based on the two months of football he played that year .

[Casciavit]

Real Madrid have released an official statement denouncing Michel Platini's perceived bias against Cristiano Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or stakes.

The UEFA President has faced criticism this week for suggesting that a German player should win the individual honour this year, with Los Blancos trio Fabio Coentrao, Alvaro Arbeloa and Carlo Ancelotti responding to the Frenchman’s remarks.

“Firstly, its surprise at the repeated declarations regarding his personal preferences over the choice of the winner of the Ballon d'Or, particularly given that he is the head of European football's principal body, where our understanding is that the strictest impartiality should prevail,” a statement on the Madrid site outlined.

"Secondly, the Ballon d'Or is an individual rather than collective prize which is awarded annually to the best player in the world, and we believe that, in order to maintain its prestige, those who participate in the vote should take into account exclusively the individual professional achievements of the players.

"Finally, we believe that Cristiano Ronaldo has without doubt had his best ever professional year individually, and has claimed the Champions League, the Golden Shoe and the record for the highest goalscorer in an edition of the Champions League, as well as the Copa del Rey and the top-scorer award in La Liga.

"In the current season, he has won the European Super Cup, scoring both goals in the match, and is achieving spectacular figures such as his 20 goals in the first 12 matchdays of La Liga, which confirm his great moment of form and ensure that, more than ever, he is deserving of the Ballon d'Or."

[MaraVilla]

should've hired harmonica to write the statement, his stats skills are more convincing.

[Valkyrja]

Ribery's crying again

Bayern Munich attacker Franck Ribery feels the Fifa Ballon d'Or is no longer going to the best player in the world and is decided by politics, rather than performances.

The Frenchman was beaten to the prestigious individual award by Cristiano Ronaldo for his 2013 efforts despite guiding Bayern to a historic treble.

Ribery, who is not even in the 23-man shortlist that will be whittled down the three stars shortly this time around, believes the trophy has lost all meaning after witnessing first hand how the Real Madrid star was treated last year.

"I learned a lot during last year's Ballon d'Or gala. As soon as I got there, I told my wife that I would lose," Ribery told Sport Bild.

"I saw how Sepp Blatter was hugging Ronaldo and how his entire family was there. I'm not stupid. It was clear that he had to win it. He wouldn't have brought his entire family with him otherwise.

"It will be the same this year. What can I say about it? Manuel Neuer or Arjen Robben should win it. You can't disagree with this. Manu has won it all, he is a great guy and he isn't arrogant. Arjen has played an incredible season in the Bundesliga and then a fantastic World Cup.

"But I fear it will be about politics again. The Ballon d'Or is no longer for the best player. It's all about politics. Fabio Cannavaro won it in 2006 because he won the World Cup, that's all.

"I don't miss the Ballon d'Or. I am not jealous because this award doesn't mean anything to me any more. I am happy with what I have in Munich.

"When 70,000 fans are screaming my name at the Allianz Arena, I get goosebumps. I can go home happy after that."

An injury-plagued 2014 played a role in Ribery's absence from this year's award, in which Germany and Bayern goalkeeper Neuer, four-time winner Lionel Messi and current holder Ronaldo are favourites.

[Harmonica]

I feel for Ribery, I would be pissed too if a media cash cow stole Ballon d'Or after manipulation of rules and votes in the competition, and the same happened in Liga BBVA-awards. And now he's stealing yet another one.

[rwo power]

"Secondly, the Ballon d'Or is an individual rather than collective prize which is awarded annually to the best player in the world, and we believe that, in order to maintain its prestige, those who participate in the vote should take into account exclusively the individual professional achievements of the players.

"Finally, we believe that Cristiano Ronaldo has without doubt had his best ever professional year individually, and has claimed the Champions League, the Golden Shoe and the record for the highest goalscorer in an edition of the Champions League, as well as the Copa del Rey and the top-scorer award in La Liga.

"In the current season, he has won the European Super Cup, scoring both goals in the match, and is achieving spectacular figures such as his 20 goals in the first 12 matchdays of La Liga, which confirm his great moment of form and ensure that, more than ever, he is deserving of the Ballon d'Or."

Obviously he individually won the CdR, the Supercup and the CL. Talk about a straight forward and logically structured argument...

[Doc]

Yeah, not exactly Real Madrid's best work. I promise we'll do better. Maybe...

[Hapless_Hans]

wasn't the same thing posted 2 pages back?

[rwo power]

Dunno. I guess I didn't read it then if it was, or my comment would have come earlier.

[Hapless_Hans]

I meant the Ribery thing

[Mr Nick09]

How can Ribery say that he doesn't miss the golden ball when he never won it in the first place? He should have said that he doesn't miss the space he made for it our on top of his fireplace. Im sure he is enjoying the flower pots up there now

Jelly is strong with jason

[Deja Vu]

Give it a rest already- the Ballon is going for Ronaldo. If Messi was deserving of the 2010 one, then it's only logical Ronaldo deserves it this year.

[Harmonica]

Give it a rest already- the Ballon is going for Ronaldo. If Messi was deserving of the 2010 one, then it's only logical Ronaldo deserves it this year.

There's zero logic what you just said.

Messi was good WC10, top dribbler, involved 8/10 goals, Argentina finished #5.
Cronaldo was a utter flop WC14, involved 2/4 goals, Portugal finished #18.

Messi had the best overall output 2010, Cronaldo doesn't have the best overall output 2014.

This would be the first time World Cup flop and group stage eliminatee wins Ballon d'Or.

[Valkyrja]

Give it a rest already- the Ballon is going for Ronaldo. If Messi was deserving of the 2010 one, then it's only logical Ronaldo deserves it this year.

There's zero logic what you just said.

Messi was good WC10, top dribbler, involved 8/10 goals, Argentina finished #5.
Cronaldo was a utter flop WC14, involved 2/4 goals, Portugal finished #18.

Messi had the best overall output 2010, Cronaldo doesn't have the best overall output 2014.

This would be the first time World Cup flop and group stage eliminatee wins Ballon d'Or.

Shows how good Ronaldo is tbh. He is also the first player to win it without winning any actual trophy.

[Deja Vu]

This would be the first time World Cup flop and group stage eliminatee wins Ballon d'Or.

2010 was also the first time the award went to a player who hadn't won the WC of the respective year since the rule change in 1995.

[_LMG_10_]

Winning the Champions league in a world cup year means very little.

Madrid didn't even win in their own country. You gotta win in your own country too if you want to be considered dominant, like Bayern, Inter, Barca did.

Last year, Ronaldo choked in Spain, needed playoff to qualify from a VERY weak group, and choked in WC. All he had was the CL.

Messi deserves it more than Ronaldo based on the world cup run alone!

I think Neuer also deserves it - he was individually just as good as Messi/Ronaldo, and it's an individual performance award if you look at the criteria.

Logically, there's no way Ronaldo deserves it but I think he'll still win because people overrate him.

[Mr Nick09]

well i guess pummelling bayern 5-0 doesn't mean anything...

what a dumb argument lmao, go cheer for welbeck bro

[izzy]

well i guess pummelling bayern 5-0 dissent mean anything...

what a dumb fcking argument lmao, go cheer for welbeck bro

Bayern? Please.....

They pale in comparison to the mighty Nigeria, Iran and Bosnia......

[sportsczy]

It's a balance....  the WC is the top tournament in football hands down.  It happens only once every 4 years.  Also, you can't build a super-team to cater perfectly to the strengths of your superstar.  NT is a purer way to find out how good a player truly is since all of the teams will be imperfect.  The superstars need to find ways to compensate for their NT's weaknesses... and the great ones do. NT pressure is also several levels above any pressure you would feel at the club level. There's no comparison there.

It's not like Neuer had WC CBs in front of him either... they're good, but not great.  He had to make plenty of game-changing saves to get Germany to the point where they started playing well... which happened against France once Lahm was moved back to fullback and Piggy/Khedira recovered some form.

My point?  Both Neuer and Ronaldo have arguments.  Either of them winning wouldn't be a shock or surprise to me.

[Gil]

World Cup is irrelevant. It's basically the luck of the draw.

[Mr Nick09]

i don't know a superstar that does well in a team that doesn't cater to his strength. Actually that doesn't exist, it's the very definition of being a superstar.

[Harmonica]

This would be the first time World Cup flop and group stage eliminatee wins Ballon d'Or.

2010 was also the first time the award went to a player who hadn't won the WC of the respective year since the rule change in 1995.

So what rules changed 1995 that affects appreciation of World Cup? Cruyff didn't win World Cup.

Year Name World Cup Ranking

1958 Kopa 3.
1962 Masopust 2.
1966 Charlton 1.
1970 Müller 3.
1974 Cruyff 2.
1978 Keegan (England not qualified)
1982 Rossi 1.
1986 Belanov 10. (R16)
1990 Matthaus 1.
1994 Stoichkov 4.
1998 Zidane 1.
2002 Ronaldo 1.
2006 Cannavaro 1.
2010 Messi 5. (QF)

2014 Messi 2. or Cronaldo 18. (Group stage)?

[rwo power]

World Cup is irrelevant. It's basically the luck of the draw.

Well, going through France, Brazil and Argentina certainly was a lucky draw, I agree.

[Harmonica]

Strange observation. Every cup competition is luck of the draw, including CL.

[Sponsored content]