Ballon d’Or result, the last time Messi and CR7 were not nominated

Cristiano Ronaldo with a new cell phone from 2003, the picture of Lionel Messi is even from 2004.

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In the popular show Champions League CBSwhere he had to joke a lot with presenter Kate Abdo and veteran professionals Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards Thierry Henry recently he took a stand again. Why was it not possible to award the Ballon d’Or to the Frenchman in 2003.

The now 47-year-old, who finished second as Arsenal FC’s top striker, chose a middle path. “Sometimes at the end you look at the top three and think: ‘Really?'” In part, the coach of the French U-21 national team dismissed the results of these awards as “journalists’ opinions” which – well about ideas – I couldn’t talk about it at all. On the other hand, many good players were left without the golden ball, Henry said: “Not everyone can win.”

The defending champions finished eleventh

The world of football was different 21 years ago. Paolo Maldini, who won the Champions League as captain of AC Milan, as well as Andriy Shevchenko, Zinedine Zidane, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Roberto Carlos, Raul, Gianluigi Buffon and David Beckham, came behind Henry in a year without a key partner. competition.

And the Ballon d’Or world worked differently too. The fact that Maldini, a defender, finished on the podium and defending champion Ronaldo, the Spanish champion and CL semi-finalist with Real Madrid, only in eleventh place, is a little surprising from the perspective of the day – today. But the achievements of the “phenomenon” had diminished and one name was not big enough for many more.

The fact that Henry was “only” second with a total of 32 goals and 25 assists behind a midfielder who only had 14 goals and eleven assists also fits this . Henry had not been a CL champion or winner and otherwise had not performed as well in the top flight as the Ballon d’Or winners. Pavel Nedved (Italian champion and CL finalist with Juventus Turin). Special emphasis has always been given to the latter in these awards.

Messi first appeared in 2006

Your current record goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo18 years old, just took his first steps in the CL, which is why he only made it to the list of nominees in 2004. Two years later, the two years continued younger Lionel Messi. After CR7 was already “fixed” in 2023, the Argentine has now fallen through the cracks – so that both special talents and serial winners are missing in 2024. For the first time in 21 years.

Apparently, the best German in 2003 was FC Bayern’s Michael Ballack, in 20th place – which he shared with a youngster called Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Ajax Amsterdam).