Monday sees the Ballon d'Or ceremony take place in Zurich with Cristiano Ronaldo, Franck Ribery and Lionel Messi looking to take home football's greatest individual prize. Here we weigh up the evidence and make the case for each of the nominees to be crowned the winner of the Ballon d'Or.
As the world awaits the verdict on who'll be crowned the winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or, awarded to the player considered to have performed best in 2013, Sky Sports takes a look at the three nominated candidates. Did Lionel Messi do enough to retain the crown or will it be Cristiano Ronaldo's goals or Franck Ribery's trophy cabinet that impresses the judges?
CRISTIANO RONALDO
The Goals
Outrageous stuff. Ronaldo has scored a phenomenal 55 goals for Real
Madrid in 2013 with Getafe, Galatasaray and Real Sociedad all on the
receiving end of hat-tricks by the Portuguese marksman. He even reserved
two of the beauties for Sevilla. And that's just his record in club
football. This was also the year in which Ronaldo scored two hat-tricks
for his country - the second of which against Sweden in the second leg
of Portugal's World Cup playoff ensuring his country's place in Brazil.
The Glory
It's the empty space at the heart of a remarkable season of personal
achievement. Real Madrid failed to win a single trophy in 2013. Second
in La Liga to Barcelona, runners-up in the Copa del Rey to Atletico
Madrid and beaten in the semi-final of the Champions League by Borussia
Dortmund, Ronaldo had to content himself with the title of top scorer in
Europe's premier club competition - regaining the crown he had lost to
Messi in 2008/09.
The Case
There are plenty of titles, trophies and cups out there for team
achievement. That's the nature of football. But the Ballon d'Or is
surely here to honour individual brilliance. It is difficult to argue
that anyone has exceeded the efforts of Ronaldo in that regard. Week
after week he has produced mind-blowing match-winning performances
allied to the sort of goalscoring greatness usually reserved for comic
books and computer games. A heroic effort that deserves acclaim.
He says
"Do I deserve to win? I believe I deserve to win the
Golden Ball each year. I would like to win, but sometimes you win and
sometimes you lose, that is the way things are. I've been on the podium
for six years. This is no accident, it demonstrates the consistency that
I have shown in recent years." - Cristiano Ronaldo
They say
"Messi is an excellent player, but he has been out
of action a long time. And you can't give an award like this to Ribery,
who only scored 22 goals. Cristiano Ronaldo has always been at the top
of his game and scored twice as many." - Fabio Coentrao
"Messi and Cristiano are the two most important players in the world today but, for me, Ronaldo is the best." - Radamel Falcao
FRANCK RIBERY
The Goals
There is far more to Ribery's game than goals but the Bayern Munich
winger still managed to produce a healthy 16 of them from 40 appearances
for the Bundesliga giants in 2013, including a final-day brace against
Borussia Monchengladbach to cap a remarkable 2012/13 season. Ribery has
also become a talismanic figure for his country, scoring for France
against Georgia and Finland in World Cup qualifying as well as bagging a
brace in their win in Belarus.
The Glory
This is where the Frenchman really comes into his own. The list of
honours is long so here we go: the Bundesliga title, the German Cup, the
Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. This
was the year that Bayern won the lot and Ribery was the star man, being
named player of the tournament in the Champions League, man of the match
in the Super Cup and MVP in the Club World Cup. Glory hardly covers it.
The Case
"The game is about glory," said Danny Blanchflower. And Ribery was
the living embodiment of that in 2013 as he enjoyed the sort of annus
mirabilis that every player dreams of. Don't believe the talk of Ribery
being outshone by some of his team-mates either. It was the Frenchman
who really lit up this Bayern side with his verve, enthusiasm and
prolonged periods of excellence. Rewarding the best player in the very
best of teams can never be seen as a bad decision.
He says
"I'm happy. Happy for myself, for the club, and for
my whole family. Whether I win or not I will still be happy. To me it is
a pleasure to be on the shortlist of candidates with Cristiano and
Messi. This year I have won everything with Bayern, and I think I helped
a lot." - Franck Ribery
They say
"I'd vote for Ribery. Cristiano Ronaldo's statistics
are impressive - individually, he's doing great things and setting new
records. However, Ribery offers more in defensive areas and helps the
team a lot all over the pitch. And last season he won everything there
was to win." - Robert Lewandowski
"Ribery is a great player, a different kind of player. He prefers to
create goals than score them. He's the kind of player you want to play
alongside. Obviously, I'd like him to win." - Thierry Henry
LIONEL MESSI
The Goals
Despite an injury-hit end to the season, when Messi was on the pitch
he maintained his astonishing goalscoring record for Barcelona by
scoring 37 goals in his 36 appearances in 2013. He began the year in
style by scoring four goals against Osasuna in January and has added
further hat-tricks against Valencia and Ajax so far this season. He
closed out the calendar year with a brace against AC Milan before being
withdrawn through injury in the November win over Real Betis.
The Glory
After Barcelona surrendered much of their silverware in 2012, Messi
helped fire the Catalan giants back to the top of La Liga in 2013 as
they reclaimed the title from Real Madrid to be crowned Spanish
champions for a 22nd time - a sixth win for the Argentine genius. But
there was disappointment in the Champions League as Barca were humbled
in a 7-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich with Ronaldo also ending
Messi's four-year streak as tournament top scorer.
The Case
"If Messi had done that we'd all be raving about it," say the
tiresome pundits. It's precisely the opposite. The little magician has
made the magnificent common-place during his reign as the game's
greatest player. Indeed, the only things likely to prevent Messi winning
the Ballon d'Or for a fifth successive year are his untimely injury and
the sheer fatigue of proclaiming his greatness time and again. If we
were looking objectively, Messi remained the world's best player in
2013.
He says
"The truth is that I'm focused on my recovery and not thinking about anything else." - Lionel Messi
They say
"Ribery and Cristiano deserve to win the Ballon d'Or
but there's no doubt that the best player now - and of all time - is
Messi." - Xavi Hernandez
"I don't know who will win the Ballon d'Or but I don't care, Lionel is still the best in the world." - Jordi Alba