The voting for the 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or closes on Friday 29th November and this year's award has already caused some controversy. Controversy and the Ballon d'Or come hand in hand, in recent years there has been heavy criticism on various issues, including questioning the winner, corruption by FIFA and a shadow of doubt over the voting system. The 2010 edition of the award being the most controversial when Andres Iniesta was a heavy favourite following an outstanding year with Barcelona and scoring the winning goal in the World Cup final but didn't win it. Furthermore, Wesley Sneijder didn't even make the top 3 that year after leading Inter Milan to Champions League glory and the Netherlands to a World Cup final. Lionel Messi took the award and would be the recipient of it for the next two years to make it a record four time consecutive winner. This year's controversy revolves around the extension to the voting period by FIFA thus allowing the inclusion of the UEFA World Cup playoffs, which allegedly favours Franck Ribery, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and most of all Cristiano Ronaldo.
Controversy aside, who has a chance to win this year's award? Can Lionel Messi win an amazing fifth in a row? Will Cristiano Ronaldo bag his second? Can Frank Ribery's year of trophies bring him the top individual award in world football? What about Zlatan Ibrahimovic's outrageous goals and performances? Or will Gareth Bale's breakthrough year and record transfer surprise everyone and win him the Ballon d'Or? This is the shortlist that FIFA announced for the world player of the year: Gareth Bale (Wales), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Özil (Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Franck Ribéry (France), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Luis Suárez (Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Brazil), Yaya Touré (Côte d’Ivoire), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands), Xavi (Spain).
The voting is currently under way and after it closes on Friday, the shortlist will be cut to the top three candidates. The winner will then be announced at the FIFA Ballon d'Or gala in Zurich on 13 January 2014. In my opinion there are only three players who have a genuine chance of winning the award, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery.
Lionel Messi
It's difficult to think of something to say about Messi that hasn't already been said, as Pep Guardiola once famously said, "Put in the superlatives yourselves, I’m running out...". He's by far the best player of his generation, one of the best players of all time and arguably the best player ever. 2013 was a disappointing year by his standards but the statistics are still remarkable, 45 goals in 46 appearances for club and country so far. His trophies this year include the La Liga title, Spanish Super Cup and the European Golden Shoe for being Europe's top scorer. He also lead Argentina to top spot of World Cup qualifying in one of the toughest South American campaigns ever. However, if there has ever been a doubt about Messi winning the award, it has to be this year. A year riddled by injury, which will keep him off the pitch until next year, has allowed his closest rivals to close the gap and has prevented Messi from continuing to break records. In all fairness, he does not deserve to win this time around but his reputation is bigger than anyone else's and it might just get him over the line.
Cristiano Ronaldo
This year Cristiano Ronaldo has taken his game to another level. Many have nicknamed him a goal scoring machine and in a team full of superstars at Real Madrid, he continues to be the stand out. In 2013 Ronaldo has scored 67 goals in 57 appearances for club and country so far. That is more goals than any other player this year. However, he has not won any team or individual trophies in 2013, which might hurt his chances. Furthermore, he failed to lead Portugal to direct qualification for the World Cup next year but truly shone in the play offs against Sweden with all four goals in the two matches. Personally, he's playing better than ever but it will be interesting to see if just goal scoring can win him the award. It's also worth noting that Ronaldo was recently involved in an argument on Twitter with FIFA president Sepp Blatter and has threatened to boycott the Ballon d'Or ceremony. The fact is that FIFA is not on his side at the moment and as much as I would like to believe that the voting is transparent and fair, we all know how powerful and corrupt FIFA can be.
Franck Ribery
What a year it has been for Franck Ribery and Bayern Munich! He's been the star of a team who won the treble in 2013, Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League. Although his goal scoring is not as prolific, 19 goals in 2013, his influence in the best team this year cannot be ignored. Ribery is a special kind of player, he doesn't just focus on one aspect of the game but does whatever is needed at any particular moment to win games and trophies. If the team needs a goal he'll score one, if they need to break down the opposition he'll create chances and the work rate he puts in every match is at times unbelievable. This year he has also won the UEFA Super Cup and the European Player of the Year. If there was ever a year that he could win this award, this is it. My main question mark is whether his team honours will be taken into account in such an individual award as the Ballon d'Or. If 2010 is anything to go by, they won't. Once again it is also worth noting that France did not qualify directly for next year's World Cup but had to do it through a tough playoff against Ukraine. At 30 years old, this is probably Ribery's last chance to win the biggest individual price in world football.
Best of the Rest
I don't think any other player truly has a chance of overshadowing Messi, Ronaldo or Ribery. If any other player can, it would have to be either Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Gareth Bale or Arjen Robben. Zlatan Ibrahimovic continues to impress on the pitch with his outrageous goals and outstanding performances. His consistency is an issue though as his brilliance only comes in small doses. 2013 was Gareth Bale's breakthrough year. After single-handedly guiding Tottenham Hotspur to 5th spot on the Premier League ladder, he was bought by Real Madrid in a world record transfer fee of $120+ million. Bale has been impressive but is yet to prove himself on the big stage. Arjen Robben has also had a fantastic year, part of the same Bayern Munich team as Franck Ribery that won the treble. Robben was instrumental to the Bayern Munich style of football but I feel as though Ribery is still more valuable.
My prediction for the Ballon d'Or is:
1. Franck Ribery 2. Lionel Messi 3. Cristiano Ronaldo.
