For those who have voted for Ronaldo why would he 'deserve' it more than Messi?
Ballon D'or ... who will win it? who deserves it?
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Messi, greatest of all time.
Messi and Messi.
Well hey, something we can all agree on for once!
Being the better player, doesn't mean you deserve this award for a specific year.
Ronaldo won the league (scoring basically the league winner in Barcelona) did a better job than Messi in the Semi-Finals and had a pretty good Euro Cup.
Messi scored a lot of goals and won the domestic cup. He's the better player for sure, but that doesn't mean he had a better year.
Ronaldo won the league (scoring basically the league winner in Barcelona) did a better job than Messi in the Semi-Finals and had a pretty good Euro Cup.
Messi scored a lot of goals and won the domestic cup. He's the better player for sure, but that doesn't mean he had a better year.
I reckon Messi will win, well because he's had a ridiculous year and will break Muller's record. Ronaldo may have won the league with Madrid, but to me there is no doubt who the better player was last season, and this season, and for their respective national sides in this time.
Messi. From an individual point of view (what this award is about), he's just the best right now
Putting things into perspective, if it isn't Messi that is going to win it then; it Casillas, Ramos or even Torres should have been in with a shout since they have had a pretty successful year by either winning la liga or the combined la liga/European Championships or Champions League and European Championships. However, I can see Messi winning again simply because he merits to win. Every time Ronaldo pushes Messi to his limits, Messi always seems to welcome the challenge and beat it with ease.
Iniesta can fudge off.
Rather grudgingly, I think Messi does probably deserve it and I do think he will win it.
I'd be delighted to see Ronaldo win it though. I still believe if I had to pick one player from the two of them to have in a team it would be Ronaldo. He's also more important to Madrid than Messi is to Barca, and Real Madrid won the league - in that sense Ronaldo made the bigger contribution and has had the better year.
Also, Ronaldo has scored in every single Classico in this calendar year, that's quite an achievement as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Messi has done that?
I'd be delighted to see Ronaldo win it though. I still believe if I had to pick one player from the two of them to have in a team it would be Ronaldo. He's also more important to Madrid than Messi is to Barca, and Real Madrid won the league - in that sense Ronaldo made the bigger contribution and has had the better year.
Also, Ronaldo has scored in every single Classico in this calendar year, that's quite an achievement as well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Messi has done that?
Yes Ronaldo did enjoy a better season trophy-wise, and he was certainly instrumental in achieving that. It should take something very, very special to deny such a player the award. And that's just the thing, while Ronaldo produced such a fantastic and consistent season, Messi put the bar even higher and produced possibly the finest individual year of football in the history of the game. And if the contest was still close by the end of last season, surely the last few months of football should lift Messi above Ronaldo.
My vote was probably personal bias towards Ronaldo. They both did exceptional last season scoring shit loads of goals but the difference for me is that Barcelona as a whole are on a different planet to every other team, their whole system is geared for possession football and Messi will always get chances. Also I'd have to take into consideration that Ronaldo's goals helped Madrid to win the league.
If I took off my tinted glasses then maybe I'd have voted for Messi but then again I don't watch the Spanish league so I wouldn't know much about either except from when I see their names pop up on livescore, how predictable that they do every match.
My vote was with a hint of bias towards Ronnie, but his bucket load of goals helped his team win the league against arguably the best side there's ever been.
Messi will win and I don't think anyone can come up with an arguement why he doesn't deserve it.
Messi will win and I don't think anyone can come up with an arguement why he doesn't deserve it.
I'm not sure this is true. Barcelona can be very reliant on Messi at times. He is easily their most important player.
It'll be a travesty if Messi doesn't win it.
From a pure biased POV, I wouldn't mind seeing Ronaldo win it. But I don't think anybody can argue if Messi wins it. How many goals did he score last season? 73 or something like that? Insane 
And he had around 27 assists which is a decent return by itself.
Messi will win it despite winning only a tinpot and bottling most of the big games this year.
It's a bit fudged - essentially from August of the previous campaign until the autumn of the current year.
Messi deserves it. The only black mark against his CV this year was his running out of gas at the business end of last season, but his contributions in driving Barcelona to that point won't be forgotten.
What's interesting is that for all the talk about goal records, Muller himself didn't even win it back in '72, pipped by Beckenbaeur. That's probably indicative of a couple of factors. First, big Franz and Gunter Netzer were appropriately recognised for their overall game and number of goals they laid on a plate for Muller. Second, the omnipresence of TV coverage now means that everybody sees the performances produced by the top boys in La Liga and, as a result, the voting can better reflect domestic consistency. Whereas in previous generations, journalists would've been more heavily influenced by performances in the latter stages of the European Cup and the summer tournament.
Pirlo was the outstanding player at the Euros, but your point is right insofar as the top European players had an opportunity to catapult themselves into the mix for the award, but not one of Ronaldo, Iniesta and Xavi produced a consistent series of career-defining performances in the way that Zidane, Van Basten or Cannavaro did in previous tournaments.
Ronaldo is brilliant and will go down in history as one of those "great" players, like Muller, Cruyff, Zidane etc, but Messi will go up against Maradona as one of the best of all time. It's as simple as that, really. He's on another plane.
Messi to win and deservingly so for me.He's just been untouchable last season and the way he's been playing this season too will help him win it for the 4th time
Just out of curosity, who holds the record for most WPOTY titles?
Messi hands down.
Where is the "don't watch Spanish football" option
The current record is three by a single player. Zidane and Brazilian Ronaldo have 3 of the old award each, whilst Messi has one. Since the Balon d'Or and the World Player of the Year Awards have been merged, Messi has won another two, essentially giving him three as well.
If Messi wins again this year he'll be the most decorated World Player of the Year ever.
Kinda awkward as there were 2 awards for a while, and now they've merged, but saying that:
Ronaldo: 3 FIFA World Player of the Year, 2 Ballon D'or
Lionel Messi: 2 FIFA Ballon D'or, 1 FIFA World Player of the Year, 1 Ballon D'or
Zinedine Zidane: 3 FIFA World Player of the Year
Ronaldinho: 2 FIFA World Player of the Year, 1 Ballon D'or
Marco Van Basten: 1 FIFA World Player of the Year, 3 Ballon D'or
Johann Cruyff: 3 Ballon D'or
Michel Platini: 3 Ballon D'or
Cruyff, Platini and Messi, all of them with three
I think it's quite scary to imagine how many WPOTY awards he will have won by the time he retires.
I'm sorry but I disagree. The man scored 60-70 goals last year. He scored 42 goals for us playing predominantly as a wide player with a free role. If it wasn't for Messi he would be winning wpoty each year, he deserves more credit than to just go down as another great. He is one of the greatest players to have played the game IMO and should go down as one.
Messi deserves it. He's simply been the best player again. It would be interesting to see how the votes split. I think the votes of the national teams captains and coaches will be the ones that give it to Messi, while the journalists will look at trophies, etc, and may go for Ronaldo.
It's absurd that anyone thinks being compared to Cruyff or even Zidane is somehow discrediting Ronaldo, IMO.
I wasn't trying to suggest that although I can see why you'd think I was. Was just trying to say that I personally see Ronaldo in that 'maradonna bracket' as one of the best of all time rather that just a great. Although Zidane was truly special and to say he was just a great is even unfair on him as he could do things with the ball that Ronaldo could only.dream of.
EDIT: Was editing this ten minutes Ahh but I had work to do.
He is, and will, which is my point. As Brwned said, his peers in that bracket are stunningly good footballers who will be remembered for as long as football is important, for being that good. But Messi will be head of the pack, sat alongside Maradona in the throne of the best ever.
He has 26 goals already this season. He just doesn't seem to stop......at all
It's ridiculious.Many players would settle for half of that in an entire season
Exactly. I'd be very happy if either RvP or Chicharito got that many in the whole season.
Messi will win....but personally I feel Ronaldo has been the best player in the world for the last 12 months. His remorseless consistency last season for Real virtually rendered Barca's revival to the wind, and he scored the decisive goal at Camp Nou. Messi is more talented I don't think that can be disputed.....but Ronaldo was a perfectly tuned machine last season, one that fired Real Madrid through games even when they were garbage.
He will regret not influencing the Champions League semi more than he did, but then again Messi was largely disappointing in two legs against Chelsea.
He will regret not influencing the Champions League semi more than he did, but then again Messi was largely disappointing in two legs against Chelsea.
We're amazingly lucky to have witnessed such phenomenal players in the game at the same time.
You look at the way Michael Jordan took the NBA by the scruff of the neck and virtually defined the sport for an entire generation; you can't help but wonder what it must have been like to be there and follow his progression in the sport at the time. Ronaldo and Messi have really done the same for football and truly redefined the limits of what most of us thought was possible from an individual player.
I honestly believe in 50 or 60 years time, the footballing world will look back at this period in history and it will be known as one of the best collections of world class talent ever. You've probably got the best international team ever and yet Messi and Ronaldo still look head and shoulders above all of them most of the time due to their consistency and productivity.
For me, both Ronaldo and Messi will go down in the Pele and Maradona bracket of being contenders for the best player ever.
You look at the way Michael Jordan took the NBA by the scruff of the neck and virtually defined the sport for an entire generation; you can't help but wonder what it must have been like to be there and follow his progression in the sport at the time. Ronaldo and Messi have really done the same for football and truly redefined the limits of what most of us thought was possible from an individual player.
I honestly believe in 50 or 60 years time, the footballing world will look back at this period in history and it will be known as one of the best collections of world class talent ever. You've probably got the best international team ever and yet Messi and Ronaldo still look head and shoulders above all of them most of the time due to their consistency and productivity.
For me, both Ronaldo and Messi will go down in the Pele and Maradona bracket of being contenders for the best player ever.
Ronaldo's not scoring at a rate that's never been seen before though he's just doing what has been done by a fair few of the 'greats' who aren't contenders for the best player ever. They're not contenders because what Pele, Maradona, Messi and co. had is so much more than Ronaldo's admittedly absurd all-round goal threat.
I did edit my other post. Maybe it's ignorance on my part for not having seen enough of the game, or personal bias towards Ronaldo. Let me change my statement to he will go down as the greatest player I've had the courtesy of seeing live, that way we're all happy.