If you live in the United Kingdom you know that any chance of a player on these shores being named the best player in the world effectively ended when Cristiano Ronaldo decided that English crowds weren’t appreciative enough of his pouting, taking his roadshow over the Spain. That very country is the destination of the three players battling it out for the top individual prize in world soccer – the Ballon d’Or.
This is also the first year that FIFA have amalgamated their FIFA World Player of the Year award with France Football’s Ballon d’Or to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or. Now you know an English player will never win it again, not that any of them even deserve to watch it on television, such has been their performances in 2010.
Tonight’s crowning of the award, in Zurich, Switzerland, will see one of Barcelona’s three greats, Leo Messi, Andres Iniesta, or Xavi Hernandez take home the gold. Who should it be though?
Well, Messi is in there because in terms of natural ability and in terms of goal scoring there are not many that compare to the Argentinean talisman. Andres Iniesta has managed to get himself in the top three off the back of a stellar year that included scoring the winner in the World Cup final, then you have their team mate.
Xavi has long been overlooked by many in world soccer as a passenger in the world’s best two teams, but this should be his time. After reaching last year’s last five it was billed as the “best players of the world (and Xavi),” by the Daily Mail, but there’s probably not a player who deserves it more – if only to stick two fingers up to the English mid-market tabloid.
