Neither had it spot-on, but they were both very close.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the Ballon D’Or award for so long that it’s become very predictable, but one of the most interesting things about the awards is perusing through the votes of the coach and captain of every international team.
Except the Football Associations of Indonesia and Kuwait, who were, of course, suspended from voting this year.
There’s usually a curveball or two thrown up by a coach or manager somewhere, but not by Ireland manager Martin O’Neill or captain Robbie Keane this time around.
O’Neill went for eventual winner Lionel Messi as number one and Keane got all three finalists right, albeit in the wrong order.
Martin O’Neill
- Lionel Messi
- Eden Hazard
- Cristiano Ronaldo
Robbie Keane
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Lionel Messi
- Neymar
If you fancy it, you can put the kettle on and go through the list in full here, while in case you missed it, here are the 11 players who made it on to the FIFA FIFPro World Team of the Year.
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