No less than 12 African nations who participated in picking the 2015 Ballon d’Or victor ignored Argentina and Barcelona’s striker, Lionel Messi. Messi was a runaway victor, claiming 41 per cent to Ronaldo’s 28 per cent. Neymar finished in third place with 8 per cent of the votes cast.
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Barcelona won five titles last season, including La Liga and the Champions League, and Messi’s goal tally for the club in league matches now stands at 295 in 328 appearances.
The breakdown presented by Federation Internationale de Football Association also revealed tactical voting among the 165 national team coaches, 162 national team captains and 171 media representatives who cast votes.
The Barcelona star was linked with a move away from the Nou Camp during the earlier stages of manager Luis Enrique’s time in charge. The Portuguese ace led Real Madrid to their tenth Champions League trophy in 2014 for which he was again awarded the Ballon d’Or in January 2014 taking his combined tally to three Ballon d’Or wins.
The Argentinian superstar netted 52 goals in 61 games along with 26 assists in 2015.
Paul Pogba has denied he previously said he wanted to join Barcelona as he outlined his ambition to one day win the Ballon d’Or.
“It’s incredible that it’s my fifth, it’s much more than anything I dreamed of as a kid”.
Messi won a record fifth Ballon d’Or crown for his magical performances over the course of the year 2015 which saw the Catalans win an unprecedented treble for the second time in the club’s history.
US boss Jill Ellis won best women’s football coach. “Neymar had nothing but good things to say about Messi’s 5th win”. “It means that the world of football recognises that the best player of all time is Leo Messi”, Bartomeu was quoted as saying. He added: “Team awards are more important than individual ones”.
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The national coach of South Africa completely overlooked Messi and gave the full five votes to Cristiano Ronaldo, three votes to Vidal Arturo and one to Manchester City’s playmaker, Yaya Toure.
