Ballon d'Or 2014 Analysis: Is Individual Brilliance More Important Than Team Success?

For the second straight year, the Ballon d'Or was awarded to a player whose individual brilliance trumped everything else in the sport. In 2012, Lionel Messi was given the trophy for his 92 goals; his team did not win a single trophy that year save for the Club World Cup. In 2013, Ronaldo was given the trophy for 69 goals scored in 59 games; he also failed to lift a single trophy for his club or country. Meanwhile, Franck Ribery wound up watching on the sidelines despite winning a total of five trophies with Bayern Munich in 2013. Which one deserves the trophy more? The team player or the individual superstar?

The argument is a rather compelling one. On one side, some would claim that soccer is a team sport and that the players who lift their teams to success should be given the award. Others would argue the award is meant to highlight individual brilliance and should be given to a superstar whose individual performance is too good to ignore.

The arguments go further for each side. Players that win with their teams are not necessarily brilliant on their own, but are great because of the collective. Would Ribery win as many trophies on a different team? He is a great player, but that is not a likely scenario. However, one could ask what the point of scoring all those goals is if the player does not win a single trophy? For example, did Messi's goals in 2012 actually mean anything aside from the record they broke? Or how about Ronaldo's in 2013? He did not win a single trophy so why do any of his goals mean anything? Obviously his torrid pace meant little in the grand scheme and was simply an empty display of bravura.

Both points are arguable, but there is an interesting middle ground. Not all of Ronaldo's goals were meaningless or unimportant. In fact, of his 69 tallies, only four have any major importance; one could argue that only three goals won him the award in 2013. Those three goals were the ones that he scored against Sweden in the second leg of the World Cup playoffs. The result of those goals was not a trophy, but a World Cup berth. Prior to those goals, FIFA extended the time period for the Ballon d'Or vote. Did those goals win Ronaldo his Ballon d'Or? Yes. But they also earned his team a World Cup berth and that alone may have been the huge difference.

If Ronaldo's goals continue to be meaningless in that context (say Ibrahimovic scored a few more and tops Ronaldo), then it is unlikely that Ronaldo wins the award.

While goal scoring prowess may seem to be the operative means of determining the award (just ask defenders who have struggled to get any love from the voters), team success is still a major variable in the equation.