At the close of 2009, Lionel Messi won his first-ever Ballon d’Or award. His victory was emphatic. At the time his triumph was by a record margin as he finished 240 points ahead of 2008 winner Cristiano Ronaldo. Messi also became the first Argentine-born player to win the accolade since Omar Sívori in 1961. But … Read more
In 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo won his first-ever Ballon d’Or. It would mark the beginning of a 10-year dominance between himself and Lionel Messi for the award which eventually led to an intense professional rivalry that drove them both to the very summit of the European game. Ronaldo’s 2008 will be remembered as the year his … Read more
In 2006, Fabio Cannavaro became the first Ballon d’Or winning defender in a decade. Typically, defensive players are largely absent from the Ballon d’Or history books which begin way back in 1956. In fact, from its inception, it would take a full 16 years for Franz Beckenbauer to be named first defender to win the … Read more
When Ronaldinho won the Ballon d’Or in 2005 he became only the third Brazilian player ever handed the award. In the twenty years since non-European footballers were made eligible for the prize, Ronaldo (1997, 2002) and Rivaldo (1999) had been triumphant. Whilst there were other worthy contenders for the accolade, ultimately FIFA would recognise Ronaldinho’s … Read more
Pavel Nedved may be the most controversial Ballon d’Or winner of all-time. His 2003 victory made him only the second Czech player to win FIFA’s top individual award after Dukla Pragues’s Josef Masopust in 1962. Nedved’s success story wasn’t a complete surprise. The midfielder had been steadily applying his trade in Italian football since the … Read more
Ronaldo’s 2002 Ballon d’Or win represented more than just the success of a player within a single calendar year. It was a commemoration of his five-year journey, battling ridiculous odds and adversity to once again reach the game’s pinnacle. 2002 was Ronaldo’s Redemption. Contentsshow 1A Long Hard Road 2The World At His Feet 32002 Ballon … Read more
The soccer ball, an iconic symbol of the beautiful game, boasts a rich and fascinating history dating back centuries. Through its humble beginnings as makeshift playthings to the technologically advanced designs of today, the soccer ball has undergone significant transformations over the years. Soccer, like zodiac casino games right away sparks intense excitement in fans, … Read more
Santos Futebol Clube, Santos, Peixe. The home to two world-renowned superstar players – one of whom was named “Athlete of the Century” and is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time – has several names, but how did the São Paulo based team come to be, and what have they been up to … Read more
Real Madrid, are globally considered one of the most illustrious and successful football clubs in the world. Their iconic badge and strip captivates fans across the world, with the club so successful fans of Real Madrid outside of Spain outnumber fans of the club inside of Spain. The club are serial winners, being one of … Read more
An incredible array of extremely talented forwards have been gifted Real Madrid’s iconic number 9 shirt across more than a century of the Spanish club’s rich history. The jersey has been worn by a long list of exceptional goal scorers who even today are considered amongst some of Los Blancos’ all-time greats. Contentsshow 1Why Is … Read more