I’m happy that Cristiano Ronaldo won the prestigious Ballon d'Or last night. I think he truly deserves it after magnificent all round performances throughout 2014. Yes, he hasn’t had a good World Cup in Brazil last summer. But, I think he was very much let down by his teammates who failed to support him in his quest for more glory. None of that matters now as the Portuguese has successfully retained his status as the World’s Best Footballer.
Looking at the vote casted however, things could easily go wrong for the Real Madrid’s superstar. I think the journalist did their part in helping Ronaldo win the award as most of the votes by national coaches and captains were clearly driven by favoritism and nationalism.
See some examples here:
Belgium’s captain, Vincent Kompany voted his countrymen, Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard as his top two choices. No disrespect to Courtois and Hazard but they certainly haven’t done enough to warrant a place in the top 10 for last year performances.
German’s coach, Joachim Low picked his three players: Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger for the award. Same goes with his German’s captain, Bastian Schweinsteiger whose votes went to Manuel Neuer, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Muller.
As expected, top contender for the award, Messi and Ronaldo decided not to vote each other. Messi threw his support on fellow Argentinean, Angel di Maria with his Barcelona’s teammates, Andres Iniesta and Javier Mascherano were his two other choices.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s votes were given to Real Madrid’s trio of Sergio Ramos, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.
Wales's captain, Ashley Williams also couldn't resist the temptation of patriotism and voted Welsh wizard, Gareth Bale as his top footballer of 2014 while Robin Van Persie named his countryman, Arjen Roben in his top three.
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