Reflections : Ballon D'or 2000 to 2009

Now that the Ballon D'or results have been announced, this writer thought it would be a good idea to look back at the top three finishers of each year from 2000 to 2009 and make some comments about how much each individual deserved the honor they got. While reading this article, please note that such an article is bound to be very subjective. While posting comments and debating the pros and cons of a decision, please keep in mind that this writer is not trying to insist that this is how the world of football in general sees this. Having said that let us get the ball rolling and proceed in reverse chronological order.

2009 - Lionel Messi was bound to be the winner and he did so by a landslide. However Cristiano Ronaldo finishing second is really hard to justify. He did have some great moments and carried ManUtd at times in UCL but Xavi was consistently excellent and at almost 100% perfection through out the year and before while being the lynch pin for two of the most successful sides in world football - Barcelona and Spain. It's hard to find any reasons for his not finishing second except that the world is obsessed with goal scorers and flashy stars. A more debatable question is whether C.Ronaldo deserved to finish third or should have been replaced on the podium by Andres Iniesta. San Andes suffered due to his time out with injuries and he is not a known goal scorer. Yet he was involved in some of the most decisive moments in Barcelona's treble triumph, particularly their UCL victory. These awards are known to take key moments into account. Perhaps Iniesta deserved to be chosen as the third player also due to the fact that Barcelona deserved the same recognition that Bayern Munich got in 1972 and A C Milan got in 1988 whereby all three of their players finished on the podium since the club's achievements were at least as magnificent as the other two clubs mentioned. Overall this remains a more debatable point with this writer clearly favoring Iniesta's inclusion while also admitting to being a huge fan of the anti-galactico.

2008 - Cristiano Ronaldo was the outstanding winner. However the other two positions were debatable. In spite of being a die hard fan of Lionel Messi this writer believes that he did not deserve to finish in the top three in spite of having an excellent second half of the year because titles are decided in the first half. Along with Fernando Torres who finished third, the other two most deserving players were Iker Casillas and Xavi. While the latter was named player of the tournament at Eruro 2008, his club side had been disappointing that season. Still San Iker just had to finish in the top three because he was outstanding with excellent performances for Spain in Euro 2008 and a comfortable La liga win for Real Madrid along with the Zamora trophy.

2007 - Kaka was a very deserving winner having been responsible for the key moments which led A C Milan to the UCL title. Cristiano Ronaldo also deserved to finish second for having an outstanding season with ManUtd. The third position was more debatable. While Lionel Messi was one of the deserving candidates, there was a very strong case for Zlatan Ibrahimovic who was outstanding in Inter Milan's march to the Serie A title.

2006 - Not many people agree with this writer but he thought Fabio Cannavaro's award was completely justified. Not only was it very pleasing to see the award go to a defender for a change but as a defender who stood out at a world cup with one of the most legendary performances of all times when the world's eyes are completely focused on the attackers, he deserved to be recognized. To that add titles with his club Juventus and consistency throughout the season. The only valid criticism put forward was the drop in his performances since joining Real Madrid. However in the views of this writer the performances post the season end when the titles have been decided should not be given too much importance. Gianluigi Buffon finished a deserving second. A lot of people insisted that Thierry Henry should have won the award due to the fact that he had been nominated several times before and never won and also that he made it to both the UCL and the world cup final. This writer does not agree with that since such awards should not go by emotions or sympathy vote. Contrary to what some people may have said this was not near Henry's best years of his heydays and while he did reach the two big finals, he was underwhelming in both. So a third place seemed like a very justified finish to this writer.

2005 - Perhaps one of the best decisions ever in terms of all three positions. Barcelona did not win the UCL but were widely acknowledged as the best team on the planet and had won La Liga as well. Ronaldinho was at a different level and a very deserving winner. Frank Lampard was a deserving second having taken Chelsea to the EPL title after ages. Steven Gerrard had to be there and he came third. He had been the inspiration behind Liverpool's surprising victory at the UCL.

2004 - Andriy Shevchenko won the award but it was not entirely justified even though he did win the Serie A title since there were other equally strong candidates. Deco who finished second may have had a stronger case for being the key player in Porto's shock triumph at the UCL. Perhaps he was let down by a disappointing performance at Euro 2004. And while Ronaldinho finished third and was recognized as the most outstanding upcoming talent, perhaps Thierry Henry who was so brilliant in Arsenal's undefeated season in EPL deserved the spot ahead of him.

2003 - The winner was very well chosen. Pavel Nedved had been extraordinary throughout the year winning Serie A and extremely unlucky to miss the UCL final. Thierry Henry came second in spite of not winning EPL that season. Perhaps he should have been taken into greater consideration in the better years for his club. Paolo Maldini came third when he should have probably finished second. Ruud Van Nistelrooy who had been prolific in ManUtd's EPL victory may have also deserved a position in the top three. And then there were the stars of Real Madrid's La Liga win - Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo.

2002 - Ronaldo was virtually the unquestionable winner. Oliver Kahn came third but he deserved to come second because of his extraordinary performance at WC 2002 where he even won player of the tournament. Roberto Carlos came second. Perhaps he should have come third instead.

2001 - A lot of people have still not been able to accept the fact that Michael Owen won this year's award. He was brilliant throughout and won all three of the Uefa Cup, FA Cup and the League Cup but it's common knowledge in club football that the titles that count are UCL and the league titles of which Owen didn't win any. Raul who came second may have been a more deserving winner since he was at his peak then and Real Madrid had won the La Liga title. Oliver Kahn came third which was more than justified to celebrate Bayern Munich's UCL triumph. Other significant options could have been David Beckham for his EPL triumph with ManUtd and Franceso Totti and Gabriel Batistuta for Roma's Serie A victory.

2000 - This is supposed to have been the closest race for the top spot. Luis Figo eventually won it but this writer feels that Zinedine Zidane who finished second deserved to win instead. Figo had won no titles that year. Zidane had not just won Euro 2000 but was also player of the tournament. Besides he is arguably the best player of the decade. The third position went to Andriy Shevchenko who did not win anything major either. Perhaps Raul could have been chosen for Real Madrid' s UCL triumph.

Here is the deserving top three for each year in this writer's opinion. As far as possible he does not wish to choose players who did not win anything major that year.


2009 - Messi, Xavi, Iniesta

2008 - C.Ronaldo, Casillas, Torres/Xavi

2007 - Kaka, C.Ronaldo, Messi/Ibrahimovic

2006 - Cannavaro, Buffon, Henry

2005 - Ronaldinho, Lampard, Gerrard

2004 - Deco, Henry, Shevchenko

2003 - Nedved, Maldini, Zidane/Ronaldo/Henry

2002 - Ronaldo, Kahn, R.Carlos

2001 - Raul, Kahn, Owen/Beckham/Totti/Batistuta

2000 - Zidane, Figo, Raul


On the whole this writer would say that the Ballon D'or has done quite well in choosing the overall winner but could have been much more consistent with the second and third place selections.