21 Oct 2026 15:05:22
Bit random, but I still can't believe Mo never won the Ballon d'or, and Owen got it in 2001.did it start getting political after he won it?
21 Oct 2026 15:49:28
It used to be awarded to the best player in the world, at some point over the last 20 years it started to be awarded to the best player on the team that won either the Champions League, World Cup or Euro’s.
21 Oct 2026 17:59:51
Or just Messi or Ronaldo every year.
21 Oct 2026 18:07:08
A big if, but if Trent hadn't got injured in the second leg against PSG two years ago, I think we would have won that tie and Mo would have won the Ballon D'Or last year. Alas, PSG beat us on pens and Dembele grabbed the narrative for the business end of the season.
21 Oct 2026 18:42:32
Robby - it's a long time ago now and easy to forget but for a 3 year period from 98 - 2001 Owen was truly outstanding and the best in Europe in his position at that time. Only Raul came near him. IMO!
21 Oct 2026 19:39:28
He's Egyptian he had no chance.
{Ed666's Note - He was super deserving of it.
21 Oct 2026 20:19:50
I think the fa cup goal got owen over the line really. There were better players around imo. Nerved, vieri, henry, Zidane, trezeguet, kahn.
21 Oct 2026 20:25:29
8 seasons of unbelievable stats.
23 Oct 2026 15:08:40
Yeah, it's all a "political" award now. More of a popularity contest. I remember reading about one association voter who said that he had voted for Salah (the same year he came in second) but he checked and his vote had been changed to Messi. Now you wonder how often that goes on?
If Cannavaro won it, why didn't VVD? There was no better player than VVD in 2019 on the Planet, and he still came in second.