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"Liverpool, Manchester United and The Coveted Ballon d’Or"

Post on: February 18, 2018

The Ballon d’Or is the most enviable trophy for any football player. When the word is mentioned, the pronunciation oftentimes slips but it’s unmistakably synonymous with Messi and Ronaldo. They have dominated it for the past decade — winning 5 times each.

What is Ballon d’Or:
It means Golden Ball and France Football has been awarding it since 1956 (with exception between 2010 to 2015). It is awarded to the player deemed the best in the previous year and journalists vote for the winner. When it was first launched, only European players could compete for the trophy. It was fine-tuned to include all players plying their trade in European clubs and finally in 2007, every player from around the world is taken into consideration.

As a kid, I remember the adulation that went with the trophy. And we would have been flummoxed by the term Ballon d’Or — it was known as the European Footballer of the Year award then. My favourite, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (German) and another superstar, Kevin Keegan (British) won the trophy twice each. In our childhood, the kids would play soccer with a plastic ball and one team would be captained by our very own “Keegan” while the other, helmed by “Rummenigge” … such was the influence.

Britons who have won the Ballon d’Or:
There are only three British clubs with players having won the award. The Legendary Stanley Mathews won it in 1956 with Blackpool. And it is no surprise that both Manchester United and Liverpool are the other two teams since they, being the most decorated of British teams.

Manchester United’s Dominion in the 60s:
Dennis Law, Bobby Charlton and George Best all won it for United in the 60s. They are deemed the best of United and are fittingly inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. A statue of the triumvirates endearingly termed “Holy Trinity” or “United Trinity” has been unveiled at Old Trafford.

Over the years, various trios have been labelled the new trinity — including the formidable Ronaldo-Rooney-Tevez strikeforce. This was indisputably a picture-perfect alliance and I loved to watch them waltz through and annihilate the opponents. However, I reckon none could outstrip the original trio of Law, Charlton and Best. Their legacy of timeless artistry is forever etched in every true blue United fan.

Michael Owen and Keegan:
The wonder-kid Owen stunned all the fans by clinching it in 2001 with Liverpool — under the nose of world-beaters, Rahul and Oliver Kahn! He had a phenomenal season, scoring 31 goals (for club & country) which propelled Liverpool to winning a unique treble — the League Cup, UEFA Cup and FA Cup in the 2000-01 season. And it was all the sweeter — his trophy was after a long hiatus.

The last Briton prior to him was Kevin Keegan in 1979, also another favourite son from Anfield. Liverpool fans will remember Keegan as their mesmeric captain with his scintillating display. However, the lustre was taken away since he won both his Ballon d’Or trophies while with Hamburg. Nevertheless, his affinity towards Liverpool was beyond a shadow of a doubt — the fans revered him by placing him 8th in the list of “100 players who shook the Kop” in 2006.

Ronaldo:
Ronaldo won it with Manchester United in 2008 — grappling it from Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s “Raging Bull”, Fernando Torres! This was a great honour for United as George Best was the last player prior to him to have won the award — in 1968!

Years later, when Ronaldo became a household name and won his 5th trophy, he acknowledged his formative years at Manchester United — exclaiming he noticed he was “really good” while playing alongside greats like Van Nistelrooy and Rio Ferdinand at Old Trafford — what a tribute and gratitude from the man of the moment!

2018 winner?
Will there be another contender to break the stranglehold of the Messi-Ronaldo dominion? The winner being the most stupendous in 2017 and would have already proven his mettle.

Did Neymar outshine them — as seen by pulling off a major coup with a world record signing? Or were there other luminaries to have escaped our radar? Can we witness the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly broken in 2018? Let’s wait in anticipation …

By Shaji Thomas Varughese

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