The winners for the 2015 FIFA Ballon d‘Or have been finally revealed, and topping the list is no other than Lionel Messi, who was apparently a hands-down but controversial choice.
Messi beat Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar when he was named the world’s best male player, as reported by the Daily Mail.
For some, the choice is controversial, probably because of the dip in the Argentine forward’s performance in 2014. Then again, there is no denying that Messi rebounded well and made a good account for himself in 2015.
It was a record-setting fifth award for the 28-year-old forward who made it clear that he intends to finish his career in Barcelona.
However, the night didn’t belong to Messi alone. There were other winners feted as well, such as Carli Lloyd of the USA winning the award for Women’s World Player of the Year.
Named best coaches for the year were Luis Enrique of Barcelona for Men’s and Jill Ellis of the USA for Women’s FIFA World Coach of the Year.
The FIFPro World XI was also revealed. Aside from Messi, the list includes the following (via the Bleacher Report):
• Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich, Germany)
• Marcelo (Real Madrid, Brazil)
• Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil)
• Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, Spain)
• Dani Alves (Barcelona, Brazil)
• Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain)
• Luka Modric (Real Madrid, Croatia)
• Paul Pogba (Juventus, France)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal)
• Neymar (Barcelona, Brazil)
Carli Lloyd best typified the year Team USA had. The US national team blossomed in the Women’s World Cup, and one of the reasons for that was Lloyd.
That included a 16-minute hat trick in the final as well as scoring six goals in the tournament. Was it any wonder why the coaches of both Messi (Enrique) and Lloyd (Ellis) got their respective awards as well?
An issue up for debate is the absence of Premier League players in the FIFPro World XI. Despite being acclaimed as the world’s best league, the absence of any player from the Premier League (not even in the shortlist) comes as a surprise. The same goes for the nominees for the Coach of the Year award.
La Liga, on the other hand, saw most of its players feted. Barcelona and Real Madrid had four players each in the FIFPro World XI. It wouldn’t be surprising to see some contesting the selection, but all is done and over.
The Puskas Award was not spared from controversy as well. Wendell Lira, a virtual unknown and formerly of Goianesia, was given the award over odds-on favorite Lionel Messi.
Just the same, the choice should leave no debate. Messi is obviously better off with the Male Player of the Year award, so why not let Lira have his moment of fame?