FC Barcelona: The Deadly Trio; One winner
Three of the players from FC Barcelona; Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez would now fight against each other for the crown of the best player in the World. The FIFA Ballon d’Or title, the crown for best footballer, would be given in the beginning
of next year and the World Cup in South Africa should play a big part in the final decision.
If we take a look at the last year of Barcelona's campaign we would notice that Lionel Messi was a far better player than the two of his teammates. Messi scored a staggering number of goals, equalizing the Barcelona record previously set by Ronaldo. Also,
Messi is on a great scoring spree this season and he is by far the best player in this season as well. On the other hand, Andres Iniesta’s last season was impeded by injury, as he could only play in 41 matches, including 11 appearances as a substitute.
Therefore, Lionel Messi was far more consistent than the two of his teammates. The Argentinean, last year, had more goals and more assists than any of his fellow players at his club.
However, it is the performance of Andres Iniesta and Xavi in the midfield of Barcelona and Spain that has won them the nomination. Although different in nature, both players are instrumental in the midfield. Xavi is a great player in the centre of the midfield,
who likes to control the pace of the game. He is a great player as a holding midfielder while he is the key figure as the playmaker of Barcelona. Iniesta, on the other hand, likes to run with the ball and is instrumental in attack only.
The passing-style game of Barcelona and Spain revolves around both these players. Xavi and Iniesta are keys to retaining more possession in the midfield, as they can pass the ball around in an exceptional style. Xavi is more renowned for his final deliveries,
while Iniesta has found a number of goals in important matches for his teams, as he did against Netherlands in the final of World Cup in South Africa.
The Spanish midfield was instrumental in the World Cup, resulting in their nation’s title victory. Therefore, both these players have been nominated for their performance in South Africa. But, they would not be sure of winning the title because there would
be some factors that would play against these players.
The current version of the award is a combination of FIFA World Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or award. If we look at the last decade of these awards, we would notice that the World Cup plays an important role in deciding the FIFA World Player of the Year.
Therefore, Ronaldo won it in 2002 and Fabio Cannavaro won it in 2006, as Brazil and Italy were crowned World Champions respectively. This award was decided by the votes of the players and managers, so a lot of edge was given to the World Cup winning players.
Although, the Ballon d’Or also favoured the World Cup winning players but there were other factors that were taken into account. There have been many differences between FIFA and France Football magazine in the past, as the latter chose from a variety of
players for their league performances. Michael Owen, Pavel Nedved and Andriy Shevchenko are the examples of the players who have won Ballon d’Or but they were never crowned as FIFA World Player of the Year. The award is decided by the French journalists so
a player can be chosen for his brilliance despite being less successful in terms of trophies.
Also, it is the presence of both Iniesta and Xavi that makes the difference in Barcelona or Spain. When one of the players is missing, the performance of the other player drops slightly as well. There is no doubt that in the presence of both, there is nothing
in the World that could be better. However, when taken separately, both these players loose a little edge in their qualities.
So, if all these factors are considered, there is a good chance that Lionel Messi would win the award for this year as well. The competition would be tough but in the end it would be a great victory for Barcelona and their philosophy of football.
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