Written by :
Published on :
Specialized soccer magazine and website France Football made a big announcement recently, the Ballon D’Or Dream Team, a historical starting eleven chosen by the votes of 140 different sports journalists from around the world.
As expected, not everyone was 100% on board with the final selections, but even so, other than maybe one or two choices that could change, this Dream Team is pretty accurate, if you know your football history.
Who was selected for France Football’s Ballon D’Or Dream Team?
For the voting, France Football selected a 3-4-3 formation, three defenders, 4 midfielders and 3 attackers, plus the goalkeeper, of course. This generated some controversy as well, as many football fans prefer the classic 4-3-3. However, it makes sense to use only three defenders for the awards, as most of the superstars and fan favorites are usually on the attacking end.
· Goalkeeper: Lev Yashin
· Defenders: Paolo Maldini, Franz Beckenbauer, Cafu
· Midfielders: Pele, Lothar Matthaus, Xavi, Diego Maradona
· Attackers: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Ronaldo
These were the 11 players selected for the First Squad, according to the voting. What do you think? Are all your favorites on the list?
France Football also selected a Second and Third Team Squad, where you can probably see some of your other favorites that might have been missing from the main list.
France Football’s Ballon D’Or Dream Team – Second Team Squad
Gianluigi Bufon, Roberto Carlos, Franco Baresi, Carlos Alberto, Alfredo Di Stefano, Frank Rijkaard, Andrea Pirlo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho, Johan Cruyff, Garrincha.
France Football’s Ballon D’Or Dream Team – Third Team Squad
Manuel Neuer, Paul Breitner, Sergio Ramos, Philipp Lahm, Andres Iniesta, Didi, Johan Neeskens, Michel Platini, Thierry Henry, Marco Van Basten, George Best.
For many, players like Ronaldinho, Zidane or Roberto Carlos, probably deserved to be in the First Squad, but the truth is, it’s pretty hard to grab anyone from that list and put him somewhere else as well, they all deserve to be in this discussion at least, and after all, 140 sports experts cast their votes, and this was the result, all three lists are quite impressive, to say the least.
Who were France Football’s forgotten ones?
The issue is not only if they deserve to be in the First, Second or Third Squad, but the fact is, some other great players didn’t even make it to the party. Michael Laudrup, David Beckham, Oliver Kahn, Carles Puyol, Fabio Cannavaro, Iker Casillas, Raul, Dennis Bergkamp, Roberto Baggio, Enzo Francescoli , Kaka, are just some of the names that come to mind, that could have easily been on any of these three teams, but just didn’t get enough votes.
The discussion will go on and on now, but most football fans certainly do appreciate this type of awards and recognitions, plus it makes sense to make it right in 2020, a year that will forever be emblematic and impossible to forget. Agree or not, that’s just a common thing in sports, it’s part of the whole thing, and it’s the core of sportsmanship.
As long as this year’s awards, France Football announced some time ago, that 2020’s Ballon D’Or would not be awarded due to Covid-19 impediments and adjustments that had to be made in all major leagues. So, we’ll have to wait and see for what 2021 will bring.
