SoccerXavi deserved the Ballon d'Or

Beginning of Story Content

Xavi finished third in voting for the FIFA Ballon d'Or. (Getty Images)

It's ridiculous, to be perfectly honest, to even make an issue out of it.

Sort of like arguing which is the better painting, Picasso's The Old Guitarist or Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper? Or who is better looking, Megan Fox or Angelina Jolie?

Still...

A minor injustice was done Monday in Zurich when Lionel Messi was awarded the FIFA Ballon d'Or as the world player of the year for 2010.

Messi topped the voting of national team managers and captains, finishing ahead of Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi. That Xavi, widely regarded as the best midfielder in the world, finished third is, simply put, appalling.

This is not to take anything away from Messi or Iniesta. Both are world-class stars and either of them would have been worthy winners of the Ballon d'Or. And in Messi, you are talking about the best player on the planet right now, and someone who is destined to surpass Diego Maradona as Argentina's ultimate sports icon.

But Xavi was head and shoulders the best of the three in 2010, and was more deserving of the award than his Barcelona teammates on the basis of what he did for club and country.

Xavi influential for club and country

Both Messi and Iniesta were integral players for Barcelona, helping the Catalan club retain the Spanish league title in 2010. Messi, in particular, was outstanding, scoring an amazing 34 goals and winning the Golden Shoe award as the top goal-scorer in all of Europe.

As for Iniesta, he will be forever remembered for scoring the wining goal for Spain in extra time of the World Cup final against the Netherlands. Iniesta was also Spain's best player in a 1-0 win over Paraguay in the quarter-finals, and like Xavi was named to the World Cup all-star team.

But Iniesta also missed substantial time for FC Barcelona through injury, and wasn't nearly as influential for the Catalans as Xavi.

As for Messi, he didn't come close to matching Xavi's performances at the World Cup.

He failed to match his outstanding form for Barcelona in his national team's colours, as Argentina bowed out in the quarter-finals following a 4-0 loss to Germany.

Unable to rely on the service of Xavi and Iniesta in South Africa, the Argentine wizard failed to make the same impact as his Barcelona teammates - as noted soccer commentator Tim Vickery once told CBCSports.ca, "Messi provides the cherry on top, but Xavi and Iniesta bake the cake."

Messi, in the eyes of this correspondent, won the award on the basis of his celebrity and name value, and on his reputation.

But if we were to judge strictly on the basis of how the players performed at soccer's biggest and most important tournament, then the choice is clear. Messi wasn't named to the World Cup all-star team. Xavi was, and that's why he deserved the Ballon d'Or.

Best player at the World Cup

Unlike Messi, Xavi was truly influential in South Africa, earning man-of-the-match honours in Spain's victories over Portugal and Germany in the knockout stages.

Incredibly, he completed 544 of his 669 passes in the tournament (a success rate of 81 per cent) and did his usual brilliant job of pulling the creative strings against the Netherlands, helping to guide Spain to its first-ever World Cup victory.

What it boils down to is this: in a World Cup year, the FIFA Ballon d'Or should go to the best player at the World Cup.

That was Xavi, not Messi.

Follow John F. Molinaro on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/#!/JohnMolinaro

End of Story Content

Back to accessibility links