Forlan and Sneijder failed to make cut for Ballon d’Or
Barcelona has swept the final nominations for this year’s FIFA Ballon d’Or, after Xavi, Andreas Iniesta and Lionel Messi made it to the final shortlist. While there is admiration for those who made it into the final three, there is also confusion at why
some top names like Diego Forlan and Dutchman Wesley Sneijder were not considered for the prize.
Xavi and Iniesta seem to have been nominated for their brilliant performances, which led Spain to victory in this year’s World Cup in South Africa. Iniesta scored the crucial extra-time winner against the Netherlands in the final, while Xavi orchestrated
Spain’s moves throughout the tournament. He is considered to be the greatest player in his position, and has the ability to stamp his authority in midfield.
Wesley Sneijder also had a wonderful World Cup in South Africa. Sneijder was the main driving force behind his team’s run up to the final, where they lost to Spain. He was also the joint top scorer with five goals. He also scored some important goals against
Brazil in the knockout stage of the competition. However, the Dutch playmaker was beaten to the Golden Ball award for the best player of the tournament by Diego Forlan of Uruguay. Forlan was the captain and main driving force behind Uruguay’s fourth place
finish.
Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Wesley Sneijder were nominated for the Golden Ball award at the World Cup as well, but Forlan was chosen in the end for his incredible feats. Forlan was also the joint top scorer in the World Cup with five goals. Nevertheless,
it seems that there is more than World Cup success that matters in deciding the award for the best player.
The FIFA Ballon d’Or, the combination of FIFA World Player of the Year and France Football Ballon d’Or, is the honour for the best player of 2010. Therefore, the World Cup is not the only thing that matters in the final decision. It is important to note
here that Diego Forlan won two trophies last season; the Copa Del Ray and UEFA Europa League. Wesley Sneijder meanwhile won a famous treble with the Serie A, which included the Serie A title, league cup and the Champions League. On the contrary, the three
players Barcelona nominees only won La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup in the current year.
However, these players have been selected because they had more influence than either Sneijder or Forlan. Consistency has been a major problem for both these players, and they have not been very influential in their team’s success. Forlan scored only one
goal in the UEFA Europa league last season, and three goals in the Copa Del Ray. In this season, Forlan has scored only six goals in La Liga, while he has scored one goal in the Europa League. Compared to Messi this achievement is nothing, while Xavi and Andres
Iniesta are also far more influential than the Uruguayan striker, who only had one great moment in the form of the World Cup.
Although Wesley Sneijder was in exceptional form last season for Inter Milan, but his statistics of nine goals and 12 assists, do no justice to the amount of influence he had on Inter’s midfield under Jose Mourinho. His form has dipped this season as Inter
are struggling in both the Serie A and Champions League. So considering the performances throughout the year, probably the right players have been nominated.
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