FIFA Ballon d'Or Snubs: Who Should Have But Didn't Make the Final Cut

For those of you unfamiliar with the FIFA Ballon d'Or, it is a football award given annually to the player considered to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. All of the nominees are confirmed after a poll in which captains, head coaches of national football teams and international media representatives selected by France Football Magazine vote for candidates. The votes from each of the three groups’ count for one-third the tally, and are compiled together for the final result.

La Pulga, El Maestro and El Ilusionista are the heart, body and soul of the FC Barcelona midfield. Each is deadly in his own right, blessed with extraordinary vision and unrivaled technical skill that any mere mortals would dream of having on a football pitch; together, they have reclaimed the three top spots once again! For the second year in a row, Lionel Andrés Messi, Xavier Hernández Creus and Andrés Iniesta Luján have placed in the final three positions for the prestigious Fifa Ballon d’Or award, beating out the other 23 nominees.

Although these players played well over the last calendar year, were they consistent enough to be crowned the world’s best player?

For the early part of 2010 in La Liga and Champions League competitions, Iniesta was nursing a niggling injury and in his return to action, he played below his superb standards. As a result of the extra rests he picked up, he turned out to be a blessing in disguise for La Furia Roja’s bid to take the World Cup. “Stringing” together plays and scoring the only goal of the World Cup final, Don Andrés helped deliver Spain’s first World Cup. His Catalan compatriots didn't show up at all on the world stage. According to ESPN’s Soccernet website, Xavi in seven games had 0 goals, 1 assist and 7 shot attempts. Xavi had a miserable time at the World Cup and was not a key factor to his country’s success.   

Messi also had a horrendous time at the World Cup and was not able to carry the Argentineans far into the competition. His World Cup statistics are as follows in five games: “the Flea” had 0 goals, 1 assist, and 29 shot attempts with 12 on target, although his form with Barcelona this year is simply scintillating. Messi has scored 54 goals in 47 games for the Blaugranas until the final nominee list was announced, including six hat tricks. The winner of the award last year, Messi has taken his game to new heights and has become the best attacking option in World Football today, outclassing fellow winner Cristiano Ronaldo.

At this point in time, a lot of you might be asking, "Weren't Diego Forlán and Wesley Sneijder in form for most of the year?  As players, were they not instrumental in helping their clubs and national teams win trophies and accolades?"

Wesley Benjamin Sneijder and Diego Forlán Corazo, who made the list of 23 nominees, never made it into the final three positions.

Their World Cup performances were far better than that of the Barca aces. In the Castrol World Cup Ranking, each player's game was assessed to see if it had a positive or negative impact on their team's ability to score or concede a goal.

The players were given ranks according to the amount of points they accumulated during the South African World Cup .

1. Wesley Sneijder - 9.56 pts
2. Andrés Iniesta - 9.15 pts
3. Diego Forlán - 8.85 pts 
4. Xavi Hernández- 8.77 pts
5. Lionel Messi - 8.76 pts

As you can see from the list, Sneijder is way in front, having a 0.41 point advantage over his nearest competitor. In third place is Diego Forlan, who carried Uruguay on his back through the World Cup. Both Sneijder and Forlán were joint top scorers for the tournament, but Forlán was given the Golden Ball award for carrying a weak side to a fourth place finish.

In terms of European action, both did well at their clubs. Diego Forlán singlehandedly led Atlético Madrid to the Copa Del Rey final and Europa League glory, scoring a double in the final against Fulham, and was voted player of the match. He ended the season with a total of 28 goals, including six in Atlético's successful Europa League campaign. The 2010/2011 season began with another trophy for the striker and Atlético, winning the European Super Cup by beating Champions League winners Inter Milan 2-0 in Monaco on 27^th August 2010.

Wesley Sneijder, on the other hand, is another person whom I believe could have made a worthy winner. Reaching the finals of the World Cup and scoring five goals for the tournament, he won the Bronze Boot and the Silver Ball for his efforts.  This was a wonderful feat for the Dutch playmaker. Equally impressive was his success at Internazionale, as Sneijder won the European Treble, consisting of the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and UEFA Champions League. On the 21^st August 2010, the Nerazzurri started the 2010/2011 season by winning the 2010 Italian Super Cup with a 3-1 win against Roma. On the 26^th of August 2010, Sneijder was named by UEFA as the best club midfielder of the Champions League 2009/2010 season.

The question still remains: with all these medals and trophies to his name, how could Sneijder and Forlán not make the final three? It is truly baffling. Some might say that FIFA had no say in the votes and that it was entirely up to those who voted, but I think FIFA should take some of the blame. What are the criteria for awarding the FIFA Ballon d'Or to a player?  Are the performances from the 2010 Fifa World Cup weighted more heavily than the performances form the Champions League? Do the heads of FIFA, like Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner and Michel Platini, to name a few, care comment on this ? There should be more transparency in this voting process. Why can't the fans be given a say in the vote ? After all, the beautiful game is an universal one, not owned by FIFA.