FC Barcelona: Why Victor Valdes Should Not Back Iker Casillas for Ballon D'Or

Victor Valdes told the Spanish News Agency EFE in a h/t to Goal that he would like to see Iker Casillas win the Ballon D'Or award. Valdes said that his reason has to do with recognition of goalkeepers in the prestigious award.

While agreeing that goalkeepers are an essential part of a football match, Valdes made a big mistake in supporting Iker Casillas. The reasons are obvious to those who follow La Liga.

Club Pride

Valdes and Casillas share the fact that they are goalkeepers but everything ends afterwards. Valdes is the goalkeeper for FC Barcelona while Casillas belongs to Real Madrid.

It is inappropriate for a member of one club to support the candidacy of a rival club for the same award. FC Barcelona is a family, and family stick together in good as well as bad.

Imagine if Petr Cech of Chelsea were one of the candidates for the Ballon D'or. Imagine that Javier Hernandez of Manchester United was a candidate for the same trophy.

Imagine then if the candidacy of Cech was supported by David De Gea who is the goalkeeper for Manchester United. The outrage and accusations of lack of club loyalty at Old Trafford would be rampant.

The purpose of this analogy is to express the notion that a member of a club (players and fans) should support it. The idea of support would be to express the desire that a player from such a club deserves a trophy. 

After all, when one person such as Messi wins an award, the club also wins. The same logic would apply if Andres Iniesta were to win the Ballon D'Or.

Lionel Messi

The second reason is that Lionel Messi accomplished feats that are of historic proportions in the 2011-2012 season. Who could forget the historical UEFA Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen on March 7, 2012 at Camp Nou.

During that match, Messi scored five goals which contributed to La Blaugrana's victory against Bayer Leverkusen. The historical feat alone is one of the reasons why Messi deserves the support of La Blaugrana including Valdes for a fourth consecutive Ballon D'Or.

The other reason is the participation of Messi in the Copa Del Rey between Barca and Athletic Club Bilbao.

Conclusion

It remains to be seen what will transpire in the Ballon D'Or. What is certain is my support for Messi in the Ballon D'Or for his accomplishments and loyalty to La Blaugrana.