he prestigious Ballon d’Or awards take place in Zurich tonight with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich’s Franck Ribery all nominated for the main prize.Â
So, who should win it? There is strong case to be made for each one, but Jamie Redknapp is convinced this MUST be Ronaldo’s year to lift the award…
If you could buy one of them now – Messi, Ribery or Ronaldo – it would be Ronaldo.Â
As Martin Samuel wrote in his column, Antonio Valencia’s goal for Manchester United at the weekend was his 20th in the time that Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 204 for Real Madrid. And Valencia has done OK at United, he’s been a decent signing.
It shows how good Ronaldo has been since he went to Real Madrid. ‘OK’ and ‘decent’ doesn’t even get close. He is a superstar of a footballer who has continued to improve. At 28, he rarely misses a game through injury and seems to be getting quicker, faster, stronger.Â
Quicker. Faster. Stronger: Ronaldo last won the Ballon d’Or – which was then given for the European Footballer of the Year – in 2008 while at Manchester United
Holder: Lionel Messi, here surrounded by Atletico Madrid defenders, was last year’s winner of the Ballon d’Or
Don’t forget me! Bayern star Franck Ribery (left) is the other contender for the prestigious award
Eyes on the prize: The men’s Ballon D’Or trophy on the left and the women’s award on the right
The dazzling Portugal forward trails Lionel Messi 4-0 when it comes to being named world player of the year, but he HAS to win the Ballon d’Or this time, this has to be his crowning moment.
This year, he deserves it more than Messi, his great rival from Barcelona. He surely cannot miss out again. That would be a travesty.
Manchester United have never been the same without him and, as Messi has dipped because of injury – slightly – Ronaldo has continued to grow and develop.
He scored 66 goals in the calendar year, in 55 games. His record includes EIGHT hat-tricks. He is truly remarkable.Â
La Liga legends: Ronaldo and Messi (below) have been the dominant forces in world football for years
Ballon d’Or… a brief history
The Ballon d’Or award in its current form started in 2010 after France Football’s Ballon d’Or – given for European Footballer of the Year – and the FIFA World Player of the Year award were merged.
It is awarded based on votes by coaches and captains of international teams, as well as journalists from around the world.
Lionel Messi has won the Ballon d’Or every year since its inception.
Messi’s record by comparison isn’t too shabby. He scored 43 goals, including scoring in 19 consecutive matches. He scored against every La Liga team in Spain.
Franck Ribery scored ‘only’ 22 goals, but the argument has been that because Bayern have become the dominant force in world football, one of their players should win. That is ridiculous.
I can see they have won five trophies and that Ribery has been their best player, but can anyone argue the Frenchman is better than Ronaldo? I hope not. I’d place him third, even if it has not been Messi’s best season.
Jamie Carragher, my Sportsmail colleague and former Liverpool team-mate, made an admirable case for Philipp Lahm. But that is a defender voting for a defender!
Best foot forward: Ronaldo has had to watch Messi be crowned the world’s best player four years on the spin
Lahm is a top player – and he has shown his versatility by moving into midfield under Pep Guardiola – but is he a player who excites and gets people off their seats? Ronaldo does that. Messi does that. Ribery does that too.
But it has to be Ronaldo for me.
This award, as we know it now and its forerunner as the crown for European Footballer of the Year, is dripping with history. The first winner was the great Stanley Matthews in 1956. Among the winners in the first 10 years, we had Alfredo Di Stefano, Denis Law, Eusebio and Bobby Charlton.
Moving further along, we had George Best, Gerd Muller, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and back-to-back wins for England captain Kevin Keegan.
Michel Platini, Marco van Basten, my Sky colleague Ruud Gullit and Zinedine Zidane are among the other winners into the late 90s.Â
Golden boys: Ronaldo landed the award in 2008 in its old guise, but it has been Messi’s for the last four years
I see Michael Owen’s name on the board of honours (2001) and Brazilians Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka before the current dynamic duo took over.
Cristiano Ronaldo won it in 2008, then Messi has won an unprecedented four in a row since.
Michel Plantini won it three times in a row (1983-85) and the French playmaker joins Cruyff, Keegan, Rummenigge, Van Basten – and Messi – in defending their crown. Their victories make them the stand out world stars (Pele and Maradona never qualified as it used to be European-only players, based in European clubs).
Ronaldo needs to win it this time, before he can even think about defending it and joining the roll call of legends.
This is surely his time.
