France Football announced the 30 finalists for the 2016 Ballon d’Or award with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi the favorites to take home the award they’ve entirely dominated since Kaka won in 2007. Real Madrid have six nominees on the list, Barcelona have four and Leicester City’s dream season has resulted in nominations for Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy.
Luis Suarez is coming off a career year after scoring 40 La Liga goals for Barcelona, helping them to claim the 2015-16 Spanish title. He also contributed 16 assists while cementing his reputation as the best number nine in the world. However, the Uruguayan forward doesn’t believe he stands a chance when the winner is announced on December 13th.
“The Ballon d’Or is more to do with marketing and press than for achievements on the pitch,” said Suarez. “I’ve earned all the awards I’ve been given. The Golden Shoe is for scoring the most goals and there’s no option for people to take that away from me.”
“I don’t have a chance [with] the Ballon d’Or because it works around marketing and I don’t have that. My ambition is to win another Champions League, that would be great.”
"Maybe this wasn't the best idea." Photo: @GuilleZNK | Twitter
Suarez definitely has a point. Watching him star in Adidas spots is akin to watching presidential campaign ads, except Suarez is basically being attacked by the messages he’s approving of.
“[They hate] that you’ll do anything to win; they hate when you kiss your finger, kiss your wrist; they hate that smile on your face” says one Adidas football ad starring Suarez, picking out the Suarez stereotypes that certainly don’t win him any fans.
“You chase and chase and chase . . . You’re a true street fighter . . . you give defenders nightmares” goes another spot — with emphasis on his teeth when talking about giving people nightmares.
With Messi and Neymar, the focus is usually on the joy they bring to the game. For whatever reason, Suarez is always marketed with a positive spin on his unsporting behavior. It’s not going to win him any new admirers, it’s only going to reinforce the message that you either love him or hate him.
The Ballon d’Or rewards goal scorers above all else. Throughout 2016, Suarez was the best at that — evidenced by his Golden Shoe victory. However, Cristiano Ronaldo will likely be rewarded for the achievements of both Real Madrid and Portugal, or Messi will take it home by virtue of being the greatest footballer of all-time.
Here’s the full list of the 30 nominees for the 2016 Ballon d’Or:
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli/Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain/Manchester United), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar (Barcelona), Dimitri Payet (West Ham), Pepe (Real Madrid), Paul Pogba (Juventus/Manchester United), Rui Patricio (Sporting), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Luis Suarez (Barcelona), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City), Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)
(H/T: ESPN FC)
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