The Ballon D’Or is the top individual prize in football. It’s awarded to the best player in the world each season and between 2007 and 2022, with the exception of Luka Modric in 2018 it has only been won by either Messi or Ronaldo. So some very good players missed out in that period. But if you look further, that has always been the case and there’s been some great players who were never deemed worthy. This week we’ll look at the best players who were overlooked for the top prize.
Thierry Henry was one of the best to have played in the Premier League. He was a great player to watch in his prime, making the impossible look easy. He won league titles, fa cups, a treble with Barcelona and a world cup, finishing his career as Arsenal and France’s top goal scorer. The closest he came to a Ballon D’Or was 2003 when he finished second to Pavel Nedved.
Dennis Bergkamp Another Arsenal Legend. Bergkamp came third in 1992 and second in 1993 but was never able to win the award. He won three Premier Leagues and four FA Cups with Arsenal in the late ’90s and early 2000s but maybe his best opportunity came in 1994 when he would have certainly been in with a shout if the Netherlands hadn’t been knocked out of the world cup so soon by Brazil.
Andres Iniesta Iniesta is one of the games greatest midfielders, scoring a world cup winning goal and being a key part of one of the best Barcelona teams in history. However, he peaked in an era dominated by Messi and Ronaldo meaning that getting his hands on a Ballon D’or was always going to be hard for the Spanish Magician.
Kenny Dalglish Runner-up to Michel Platini in 1983 was the closest that Dalglish came to winning the award. This was the year in which he won the fourth of six league titles with Liverpool. Dalgish would also go onto win three European cups to renforce his position as one of Europes best.
You need unbelievable skill, the ability to score world-class goals, complete commitment and hard work to win a Ballon D’Or.
Thankfully we’re not looking for any of those at our DADSVDADs games. We’re just happy when you turn up to KEEP PLAYING and KEEP OTHERS PLAYING TOO, although turns out quite a few of us are actually not too bad either 💪⚽.
