Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Ronaldo favourite for Ballon d’Or but Neuer may sneak it
THE prestigous Ballon d’Or award – given to the world’s best footballer – is announced at Fifa headquarters in Zurich on Monday night. The award is voted for by the coaches and captains of international teams and by selected journalists who this year have had to choose between finalists Cristiano Ronaldo, Manuel Neuer and Lionel Messi.
Here we give a rundown of the three Ballon d’Or nominees:
Cristiano Ronaldo
CRISTIANO RONALDO, never short on self- confidence, is fairly sure of retaining the Ballon d’Or after a memorable 2014 in which he scored 63 goals for Real Madrid and Portugal in all competitions.
Ronaldo, who is 30 in February, has not said much about the award recently. However, he did raise eyebrows a few months ago by saying: “In my head, I think I am the best player in the world.”
Statements over the years – in 2011 he infamously said “some people jeer me because I am rich, handsome and a great player” – have led to Ronaldo being considered arrogant in some quarters.
The fact that he is the first player ever to have a museum dedicated to himself, on his home island of Madeira complete with a massive statue, has confirmed this negative impression for many people.
Not that Ronaldo is very worried about his critics, after a remarkable year in which he guided Real to four major trophies – the Champions League, the Uefa Super Cup, the Club World Cup and the Spanish Cup.
Ronaldo’s goals record in these triumphs was nothing short of astonishing. He banged in 17 goals in the Champions League, then scored both goals in Real’s 2-0 defeat of Sevilla for the Uefa Super Cup in August. He was top scorer in La Liga last season with 31 goals, and is currently way ahead atop the scorers’ chart with 26, a tally which puts him on course to beat Messi’s record of 50 goals in 2012.
However, Ronaldo’s critics point to the fact that he again failed to shine on the most important stage of all – the World Cup finals. He scored only one goal at the tournament, the same as in 2010, and failed to guide Portugal beyond the first round, while Messi’s Argentina reached the final and Neuer’s Germany won the trophy.
Nonetheless, 2014 was an excellent year for him, and this is why he is considered favourite to win the Ballon d’Or.
Manuel Neuer
MANUEL NEUER kept a clean sheet against Ronaldo and Messi as he helped Germany to a fourth World Cup title, and he now aims to beat the two stars for the Ballon d’Or award as well.
Ronaldo and Messi have won football’s most prestigious individual prize in the past six years and have continued to score freely in 2014.
But Neuer has been at the forefront of redefining the role of a goalkeeper in the modern game, most notably at the World Cup in Brazil but also at his club Bayern Munich where he has let in a league-record four goals in the first half of the current season.
Neuer, 28, spoke of “a huge honour for me” when the final shortlist was announced by Fifa in December.
The German is the first goalkeeper to make the final three of the award in its current form since 2010. German keeper Oliver Kahn was second in 2002 while Soviet legend Lev Yashin was the only goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or award, but that more than 50 years ago in 1963.
Neuer won a league and cup double for Munich on top of the World Cup, where Germany opened with a 4-0 win over Ronaldo’s Portugal and won the final 1-0 against Messi’s Argentina.
That was the same amount of trophies as Ronaldo (Champions League, Spanish Cup, European Super Cup, while Real’s Club World Cup title came after the shortlist announcement). Messi won no titles on the pitch in 2014 but at least the Golden Ball award as best outfield player in Brazil.
Neuer won the Golden Glove in Brazil – partly for acting like an outfield player himself – with Fifa’s Technical Study Group hailing the German as a prime example of “a new era of goalkeeping in modern football,”
A report from the technical group said: “The modern goalkeeper acts like an additional outfield player and is the starting point of many attacking movements with precise short or long passes out of defence.”
Lionel Messi
HOW IS it possible that a player who guided his country to the World Cup final and bettered more scoring records can be considered to have had a flat year? That is the paradox surrounding Lionel Messi in 2014.
Messi won the award in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and came second behind Ronaldo in 2013. However, he is not considered to be the favourite this year even though he led Argentina to their first World Cup final since 1990 with four goals and several assists and bettered the all-time scoring records in the Spanish Liga and the Champions League in 2014 in Barcelona’s shirt as well.
The main reason for this is that Messi had a disappointing 2014 for Barcelona, by his own high standards, with no titles and culminating in an alleged rift with coach Luis Enrique.
The death through throat cancer of previous coach Tito Vilanova seemed to affect Messi profoundly. The Argentine idol said several times that Vilanova was the coach with whom he had the best rapport.
Messi, introverted and withdrawn, is the not the easiest star for coaches to handle, as Pep Guardiola found out between 2008 and 2012.
Barça chose the little-known Argentine Gerardo Martino to succeed Vilanova partly because of his Rosario connections to Messi, but the Catalans had a disappointing season without trophies under Martino.
Messi often looked lethargic and pathetic, even disinterested on the field for Barca.
He was even accused by some sections of the Catalan media of reserving his energy for the World Cup. In addition, he was plagued with various muscle injuries plus a tax evasion indictment from the Spanish authorities.
Sections of the Camp Nou started to jeer Messi towards the end of the past season, leading him to say: “I am very happy here and want to stay, but if people want me to leave then we should look for a solution.”
Paris St Germain, Chelsea and other top clubs reportedly showed an interest, prompting Barça president Josep Maria Bartomeu to give Messi his seventh contract improvement in eight years. Bartomeu is now trying to calm things down between Messi and new coach Enrique, but the rift will clearly not help Messi to reestablish himself as the world’s number one ahead of Ronaldo. – Sapadpa