The 2010 Ballon D’Or shortlist has been announced this morning and it comes as no surprise to learn that it involves 3 Barcelona players; Iniesta, Messi and Xavi. All 3 were fantastic in the calendar year with Iniesta and Xavi both heavily involved in Spain’s World Cup triumph.
Lionel Messi was last year’s winner and has had an outstanding season. He has scored well over 50 goals in a calendar year which is simply phenomenal and continues to wreak havoc against defences all over Europe. The fact that Argentina failed to progress further in the World Cup would suggest that he is unlikely to regain his crown however.
Xavi Hernandez has been the stand out central midfielder in the world for the last few years. His passing range and success rate is staggering and he continues to make both Barcelona and Spain the team they are. He is now in his 12 full season for Barcelona and the superlatives just keep coming; last week against Real Madrid he broke a Spanish League record for the most completed passes – 110.
Andres Iniesta scored the winning goal in the World Cup final and would be my vote for the award. He missed both semi finals against Inter Milan in the Champions League and was sorely missed; one wonders whether the game would have been different if he had played. In a tight game his ability to manoeuvre the ball passed defenders would have been crucial.
In summary:
1st: Andres Iniesta
2nd: Xavi Hernandez
3rd: Lionel Messi
Coach of the Year:
Jose Mourinho
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