Carvajal, Rodri and Vinicius should be the top three for Ballon d’Or

FOR 11 straight years, I was privileged enough to be a member of the exclusive club – as a juror of the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.

.At one stage, I shared the jury duty not only with my fellow journalists from all four corners of the globe but also all national team coaches and captains.

When FIFA collaborated with France Football to hand out the awards in 2010, it was rebranded as the FIFA Ballon d’Or.

The tie-up ended in 2015, prompting FIFA to create their own awards called FIFA Best. Following the split, Ballon d’Or voting reverted to only journalists casting their votes.

With FIFA’s hand in it, votes from coaches, captains and the media each accounted for 33 per cent of the final vote.

For the 2010 edition, three Malaysians were involved in the process – Datuk K. Rajagopal as the national coach, Norhafiz Zamani Misbah as the national skipper and yours truly.

Had it been up to the media, the eventual winner Lionel Messi would have been placed a distant fourth. My vote went to Wesley Sneijder who missed out on the podium despite winning the UEFA Champions League with Inter Milan and finishing runners-up in the FIFA World Cup with Holland.

I honestly thought the award was compromised when they decided to open the votes to players, who were not shy of stating their personal preferences.

For the 2014 edition, Argentina captain Messi voted for Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Neymar – all three his dressing room buddies at Nou Camp.

Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo voted for Radamel Falcao, Gareth Bale and Mesut Ozil, the last two his teammates at the Bernabeu.

As Spain’s captain, Iker Casillas voted for his Real Madrid teammate, Ronaldo, followed by Bayern Munich duo Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben. Who won? Ronaldo!

After the split with FIFA, the Ballon d’Or reverted to the old format, with journalists, known for their objectivity, given the right to choose the best player.

Today’s event marks the beginning of UEFA’s partnership with Groupe Amaury, which publishes France Football and L’Equipe.

If I were still among the jury, I would base my pick on the candidates’ performance in major tournaments that come every four years – the Euros, Copa America and the AFC Asian Cup on top of their consistency at club level.

On that score alone, Dani Carvajal, Rodri, Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham stood out.

Always tigerish in defence, Carvajal has made it to the shortlist for the first time at the age of 32, boasting a record of four goals and three assists as Real won the La Liga title and scoring one in Spain’s Euro 2024-winning campaign.

The rightback also bagged a goal in the UEFA Champions League final, opening the scoring as Los Blancos went on to win 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund.

Unfortunately for Carvajal, who is currently sidelined due to a knee injury, defenders seldom fare well in the voting, as not a single defender has picked up the title since Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro’s commanding World Cup-winning performance in 2006.

Twice on my jury duty I voted for a defender as the top player – Philip Lahm in 2014 and Virgil van Dijk in 2019.For many, Bellingham was a leader for the Three Lions, scoring the team’s first goal of the tournament and grabbing a spectacular, last-minute equaliser against Slovakia in the last 16 to send the game to extra time and then England on to the quarterfinal. Of course he took La Liga by storm on his debut season, culminating with a winner’s medal in the Champions League.

Rodri bossed the Spanish engine room, equally dominant as the vital cog in the Manchester City side, and picked up the Euro 2024 Player of the Tournament award.

Brazil’s Vinicius Jr has received the backing of high-profile personalities as the favourite to scoop the gong today, having scored 15 and assisted six in Real’s La Liga-winning campaign, and notching 10 and provided six assists as Los Blancos claimed the Champions League trophy for the 15th time.

Sadly for him, Brazil were eliminated at the quarter-final stage, with Vinicius missing the Uruguay game due to suspension.

So if you ask me who would take home the golden ball, I would pick Carvajal, a true professional who does not necessarily grab the headlines. I doubt the rest would agree with me though!