This week Pitch were fortunate enough to attend the FIFA Ballon d’Or and see firsthand the announcement of the world team of the year. With all 11 players coming from La Liga we started to wonder if the players selected by FIFA actually deserved their place in the team.
A big surprise to many is that Chelsea’s Champions League winning team got no recognition for their efforts. Marcelo, better than Cole? Here at Pitch we don’t think so. Many would say Patrice Evra, Phillip Lahm and Ashley Cole are all superior to Marcelo.
Gerard Pique is undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the world but in 2012 he wasn’t even first choice at Barcelona for the whole season as his off field antics saw Pep Guardiola drop him in preference of Javier Mascherano. Vincent Kompany’s immaculate defensive performances for Manchester City as he captained them to their first Premier League title surely should have been enough to earn him a place in the prestigious team.
How Andrea Pirlo has been omitted is anyone’s guess. He starred in an exceptional Juventus team that went the entire season unbeaten before joining up with Italy to orchestrate their route to the final of Euro 2012. Performances of this calibre must be worth something.
As with anything of this nature you are never going to get everyone to agree but one thing that does appear to have gained universal approval is the decision to award Lionel Messi the FIFA Ballon d’Or for his record breaking year.
After much deliberation and analysis here is the team Pitch believes should have been selected…
Goalkeeper
Iker Casillas
Defenders
Sergio Ramos
Vincent Kompany
Dani Alves
Ashley Cole
Midfielders
Andrea Pirlo
Xavi
Andres Iniesta
Forwards
Lionel Messi
Cristiano Ronaldo
Falcao
