In its long and prestigious history, just three defenders have won the Ballon d’Or; Franz Beckenbauer (1972, 1976), Mathias Sammer (1996), and most recently, Fabio Cannavaro (2006). Whilst the coveted prize is almost exclusively won by attackers and midfielders who are scoring goals and in the thick of the action, the feat of these players to be considered the best players on the planet whilst at the other end of the pitch, doing the not-so-glamorous job of defending is testament to just how special they really were. In this article, we discuss why and how each player won the Ballon d’Or and also ponder if defenders don’t get as much love as they should in the overall Ballon d’Or voting process.
Franz Beckenbauer
Perhaps the most famous defender of all time, and a name that is still revered even by a new generation of football fans who never saw him play, Beckenbauer is the father of the Sweeper/Libero role, re-inventing defending at its core.
‘Der Kaiser’ was the first defender to win the prestigious award and is also the only defender to win it more than once, Beckenbauer first won it in 1972.
His first came thanks to his performances helping West Germany to a European Championship victory in 1972, defeating the Soviet Union in the final 3–0. He’d also captain Bayern Munich to a Bundesliga title that year, in which Bayern conceded just 38 times across the whole season. He became the second German to win the coveted award, teammate Gerd Muller being the first in 1970.
Then in 1976, he would see Gerd Muller’s achievement of being the first German to win the award and raise him, as Beckenbauer became the first German to win the award twice. At the same time, he’d become the only defender to win the award twice, an achievement that still stands.
Mathias Sammer
Sammer is essentially the Beckenbauer 2.0, with his skillset almost identical to that of the first Libero. Sammer however, made the role work in the 90s, a time in which players/teams had caught on to the role and adapted to it. Replacing Beckenbauer is an impossible task, especially 20 years later with football a different game now, but Sammer made the role his own.
He wasn’t moved to sweeper until the 1994-95 season, but this decision would propel him from elite midfielder to the world’s best sweeper. Dortmund saw the impact immediately, as they shocked Bayern Munich by comfortably finishing above the German giants, and winning their first Bundesliga in 31 years.
This would be considered Dortmund’s golden period.
During this era, much like in the 70s, Libero’s were all the rage, but very few players could fill the role and excel. It required a Midfielder, capable of defending and reading the game who also possessed great athleticism and most importantly could pick out a pass.
If the Goalkeeper is the last line of defence, this type of Sweeper was the first line of attack.
In 96 Sammer was a tour de force, scoring, assisting, and everything in between all year. He won player of the tournament at Euro 96, in which he led Germany to a famous victory, and won a second Bundesliga title in a row with Dortmund.
Many uninformed armchair pundits consider this victory a controversy, as a 21-year-old Ronaldo Nazario finished 1 point behind Sammer in the votes. But while Ronaldo’s legacy and ability are unquestionable, Sammer deserved this award, and as much as Ronaldo’s goal scoring prowess that year was incredible, as far as achievements go he had just a Dutch Cup to his name for the 96 season.
Ronaldo was a player no one had seen before, but Sammer, maybe even more impressively, was playing like Beckenbauer but 20 years later in a vastly different footballing landscape. Sammer’s Libero was an evolution on the playing style of one of the best defenders to ever play the game and 96 was the best season of his career.
I think him not winning the 96 Ballon d’Or would have been far more controversial than winning it. What more could he have done as a Libero to deserve it?
Fabio Cannavaro
The most recent defender to win, with Cannavaro being the most surprising given his defensive role wasn’t a hybrid of defender and midfielder like Sammer and Beckenbauer before him, and rather a more typical defender.
In a year remembered most for Zidane’s inability to keep a cool head in the face of what was a playground insult, the defense was the new attack, as the Italians played a robust yet still entertaining system that took much of the world by storm. As much as we see the 2006 Italian team as now iconic, and packed with talent, their win was a shock to many.
Cannavaro would profit heavily off of Zidane’s meltdown, as he secured a World Cup, captaining a side that were far from favourites to glory. Further, winning a Ballon d’Or through his leadership and defensive masterclasses during the tournament, he’d achieved arguably the two greatest honours in world football. But, Cannavaro was not just your typical defender that had a great year.
Defenders have great years all the time, achieving things only a handful of players do, sometimes in one season. But, they rarely get a look in for the Ballon d’Or voting process.
To win as a defender always requires innovation and defensive ability on a level we likely won’t see again. Something new needs to be brought to the role, and in Cannavaro’s case, it was how he’d adapted to life as a 5 foot 9 Centre-back.
He operated as a less fluid version of Sammer and Beckenbauer before him, with his focus entirely on reading the game and nullifying opponents. He wasn’t so much of a driving Libero, instead operating as a more typical sweeper. With his relatively small stature for a centre-back, I could forgive you for thinking he had to adapt or play differently to typical centre-backs to find success. But, he didn’t…
He was a unique defender in every way, possessing great on-the-ball skills. But, ironically where he really excelled was his aerial game. He had an uncanny jumping ability and seemed to know where the ball was headed before it left a winger’s boot.
At the 2006 World Cup, he displayed a previously unseen level of footballing intelligence, using all his experience and footballing acumen to break down attacks, read killer balls, and get his head on to every ball that came into his box.
No doubt he was overlooked by some for his height, but Cannavaro didn’t need it. To rely on height to defend is lazy and an un- earned advantage. Cannavaro was the definition of beating brawn with brains. By no means fragile, or incapable of physicality, far from it, he was a monster in physical battles and regularly out-strengthen players that towered over him.
If you tried to play the ball around him, he’d read your pass. If you played the aerial game thinking that was a weakness, he’d out-jump a striker 6 inches taller than him and head the ball to safety. If you chose to ignore him and play the ball around him, he’d hunt down the attacker and make a goal-saving, inch-perfect tackle. He was inevitable.
In 2006 there was only really one man to win the Ballon d’Or…
Is the Art of Defending Overlooked?
Whilst it may be a cliché that players who are physically and technically limited end up becoming defenders, the greatest defenders possess technical and physical attributes that rival some of the best outfield players in the world.
The game is controlled in the middle and ultimately won by scoring goals, so it’s only natural that players who adopt these positions are the most sought-after.
But, once in every decade, a defender comes along that makes people stand up and take note. It’s easier in a lot of ways for a talented, skilful attacker to dazzle fans and take home plaudits. Fans want to see goals, so it’s no wonder defenders are overlooked when it’s their job to stop them. How many times can you say a defender has left you in awe with a performance, compared to a midfielder or striker?
Even if you really appreciate a defender’s craft, it cant be more than a handful of times a season. By contrast in any League, there will likely be at least one standout attacking player that left fans purring. So for Cannavaro, Beckenbauer, and Sammer to win over so many would not be possible without defensive displays, the likes of which are only seen once in a decade at best.
