Suarez and Messi only came fourth and fifth respectively in the running for the award to acknowledge Europes best player of last season, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Antoine Griezmann preferred, prompting Mestre to hit out at UEFA.
Advertisement
Aside from Bale’s incredibly prolific La Liga campaign (1 goal every 90 minutes) and his solid Champions League performances, he had a supremely good tournament with Wales in the EUROs, often putting his team on his back and carrying them to the semifinals through sheer force of will. He also had plenty of highlight reel worthy moments in the tournament, scoring two direct free kicks whilst beating countless players with the ball at his feet.
The jury will cast their votes for the winner during the 2016/17 UEFA Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday 25 August.
This post was syndicated from Vanguard News.
The award is seen as the natural successor to the original Ballon d’Or that honoured the European footballer of the year and was first won by Stanley Matthews in 1956. The Frenchman reached the Champions League final with Atletico Madrid but fell just short of a resilient Real Madrid.
Suarez, meanwhile, netted an incredible 40 Primera Division goals – 59 total last season. Gareth Bale was preferred by UEFA over the former Liverpool striker, who has been statistically far superior than the Welsh superstar.
Advertisement
Antoine Griezmann scored seven goals in the UEFA Champions League as Atlético got to a second final in three years. It leaves you crying out for him to cover every blade of grass for Real as he does for the Welsh team.
