Del Bosque sees no value in Ballon D’Or

Del Bosque sees no value in Ballon D’Or

The Spanish player and manager Vicente del Bosque, who brought la Furia Roja to the triumphs in the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship reckons that the award has no value. The 2012 Manager of the Year came to such a conclusion after Lionel Messi did not get into the top three contenders for Ballon D’Or.

Initially, the French magazine France Football presented thirty nominees for Ballon D’Or award, which the magazine has been awarding apart from FIFA since two years ago. After counting half of the votes, the Croatian midfielder of Real Madrid Luka Modric has become the leader of the race, who has already won FIFA award The Best. The second in the list is his teammate and world champion Rafael Varane. The progressing 19-year-old PSG forward Kylian Mbappe closes the top three.

Looking at the situation, Del Bosque stated,

“I am very surprised that Messi is not in the top three. I think the award loses its value if he is not among the best players in the world. It's a little weird to say the least.”

Since 2007, the award moved from Messi to Ronaldo. Both players got five Ballon D`Or, and now they haven’t even got into the preliminary top three contenders. Bookmakers have a different opinion regarding the first three places. Marathon bet betting operator considers Luka Modric the favorite with the odds of 2/5. The second line is after Antoine Griezmann – 10/3 and the third place is shared between Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane (7/1). Mbappe from PSG is only fifth – 14/1.

Bookmakers do not see Lionel Messi even in the top five contenders for a victory. The odds on his triumph vary from 20/1 according to Bet Stars to 40/1 according to Marathon Bet, Betfair и Paddy Power.