Daylight Ribery!

The world has spoken. Cristiano Ronaldo was voted 2013’s World Player of the Year for the 2^nd time at last night’s glittering shindig in Zurich.

There’s no doubting Ronaldo’s qualities as one of the world’s greatest players ever. His track record and accolades speak for themselves but I have to disagree with the voters.

Franck “Scarface” Ribery should have been the one lifting that beautiful trophy last night based on his exploits in 2013 for Bayern Munich and France.

Now let’s look at the criteria for the judging process which states that candidates must be judged on: “Performances for club and/or national team (particularly in important matches), fair play and general level of performance in 2013.’’

Now let’s look at Franck’s record in 2013.

Bundesliga, Champions League, German Cup, Uefa Super Cup, Club World Cup winner with Bayern Munich. Not forgetting how he helped France grab their ticket to the World Cup in Brazil 2014.

His individual accolades included the Bundesliga Player of the Year, Uefa Player of the Year (Europe) and the MVP for the Club World Cup.

Over and above the accolades, Ribery’s performances last year were truly world class along with his 22 goals. He may not have scored as many goals as Ronaldo (66 goals) or Messi (42) but the way he troubled defenders with skill and pace, created chances for team mates and even tracked back in defence (something Ronaldo and Messi don’t have to do in their clubs’ playing systems) made him the most complete individual and team player of the year.

Still not convinced? Take a look at these stats compiled by the BBC:

·         Ribery won more games (45) than Ronaldo (40) or Messi (26).

·         Ribéry made more dribbles (1,084) than Ronaldo (252) and Messi (331)

·         Ribery created more chances (149 to Ronaldo’s 94 and Messi’s 70)

·         Ribery made more passes (2,903 to Messi’s 2,136 and Ronaldo’s 1901) and made more assists (18 to the others’ 15).

Judging on stats and general performances for 2013, it’s clear that Ribery was indeed robbed of the Ballon d’Or title for 2013, jealous down!

What’s even worse is the Frenchman will probably never reach the same level of form again. 2013 was his peak year and he deserved to be honoured for his exploits.

By The Original Mister T