Magazine France Football has released the name of the 30 candidates who choose to win the 2021 Ballon d’Or. Among both names are the great stars of world football, although as in each edition there are absences and surprises.
Let’s look at some players who chose to win the precious award but surely most of you didn’t even remember that they were on the list of nominees.
The Ajax of the 2018/2019 season astonished all of Europe after reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, leaving Real Madrid and Juventus on the road. His players quickly caught the attention of the greats and among them was Donny Van de Beek.
The midfielder was one of the leaders of that Ajax and after many rumors in 2020 he headed to Manchester United where he has lost all prominence.
The signing for West Ham was good for Dimitri Payet as in the 2017/2016 season his performance was so good that he was among the best footballers in the world. In fact he was in 17th place with only one point tied with Toni Kroos and Luka Modric who had just won the Champions League.
Goalkeepers are the great forgotten in the Ballon d’Or but it should come as no surprise that Rui Patricio was nominated in 2016 as he had just won the European Championship with Portugal. He was in 12th place with 6 votes.
Little more can be said about the crazy career and life of the Italian player. Before his downhill began, Balotelli was a great promise and in fact at Manchester City he became an important piece for the team to be proclaimed Premier champions and was international with Italy. In 2012 he was the last classified in the Ballon d’Or.
In 2010 Asamoah Gyan was one of those shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or and was ahead of Julio César, Fábregas, Klose, Philipp Lahm and Dani Alves. The following year it disappeared from the list.
The 2008 Euro Cup left us with the triumph of Spain and one of the best Russian teams in recent times. Arshavin was the big star and was sixth in the Ballon d’Or, much ahead of his teammate Zhirkov who did not receive any votes.
Tim Cahill is one of the legends of Australian football and in 2006 he scored Australia’s first goal in a World Cup. However, that was not merit enough as the former Everton player did not receive a vote.
El Hadji Diouf was one of Senegal’s leaders leading his team to their first World Cup appearance in 2002 where they reached the quarterfinals. He was elected footballer of the year in 2001 and 2002 and included in the 2002 World Cup All-Star Team. He was 21st in the final ranking of the Ballon d’Or.
Another player who was nominated for the Ballon d’Or after the World Cup in Korea and Japan was Jun’ichi Inamoto. In the 2001/2002 season he had just won the Premier League with Arsenal and in 2002 he was champion of the Intertoto Cup with Fulham.
Last is Tomás Rosicky. Nicknamed as Little Mozart, was a key player in Borussia Dortmund and also a fixture with the Czech Republic. His skills failed to convince those in charge of voting as he did not receive any points.
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