30 nominees for the "Ballon d'Or": Messi is in, Ronaldo is out

30 nominees for the "Ballon d'Or" announced: Messi is in, Ronaldo is out

Lionel Messi, who has ended his career with the Argentina national team, has been nominated for the "Ballon d'Or" for the 17th time. This has never happened to any other football player.

Messi also set a unique record as the football player nominated for the "Ballon d'Or" with the longest time interval. He was first nominated for world football's main prize in 2006, as a 19-year-old youth with long hair who had just rekindled his relationship with Antonella, the mother of his sons. That year, the award was won by our Cannavaro.

20 years later, a visibly aging, bearded Messi, whose eldest son is graduating from school, is once again among the 30 nominees to win the "Ballon d'Or"! This time, not for his past achievements, but because he proved he is still at a high level in the last World Cup, single-handedly leading Argentina to the World Cup final for the third time. A person maintaining their physical condition at such a level for 20 years is truly admirable.

In recent years, the attitude towards the "Ballon d'Or" has also changed. For example, not presenting the award to Lewandowski due to the pandemic was a great injustice. There are also incomprehensible aspects among this year's nominees. For instance, it is completely incomprehensible why Julián Quiñones and Sadio Mané, who play in the Saudi championship, are among the nominees. The "Ballon d'Or" used to be given to the best football player playing in European championships, and later it began to be given to the best football player in the world. Still, preference should be given to players playing in Europe. Because the difference between the football of the Old Continent and the Saudi league is huge.

The organizers need to clarify exactly who the award is given to: the player who played best in the UCL, in the World Cup, or based on overall individual performances? To be honest, last season no football player stood out clearly from the others. PSG won the UCL; logically speaking, Kvichat was the best in the team. But Luis Enrique's coaching skills left no room for any player's heroism. It was the same in the World Cup. When talking about Spain, the name of Luis de la Fuente was mentioned above everyone else. No one was at a level that left no room for questions, as in the era of Messi and Ronaldo.

Now, to give my personal opinion on who deserves the "Ballon d'Or" this year. The main issue is who will be in the top three and top five. In my opinion, the top five should include Rodri, Mbappé, Kane, Messi, and Yamal. Maybe they will add someone from PSG as usual. Maybe Fabián Ruiz, maybe Dembélé. And the top three should probably feature Kane, who had a great European season, Mbappé, and Rodri, the captain of Spain who became world champion.