Football does enjoy a glittering ceremony and last night’s The Best shindig at the London Palladium was no different. Certainly not in terms of the principal winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was voted Fifa’s player of the year for the fifth time.
It’s hard to argue with the title this time around, given that last season the Real Madrid striker inspired his club to a second consecutive Champions League title with a hat-trick in the semi-final against Atletico Madrid and scoring twice in final to thrash Juventus 4-1.
But the absurd bias towards Spanish football in these ceremonies was again evident – Lionel Messi was runner-up, after a season in which the Barcelona striker failed to win anything, while his former teammate Neymar was third.
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The Brazilian now plays for Paris Saint-Germain in France, but he was a member of the under-performing Barca squad that was dumped out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals.
It’s an insult to the likes of Monaco, Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich that none of their players were recognised. Monaco's young side in particular were superb last season in romping to the French title and reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League.
But these type of football ceremonies have long been a La Liga love-in. Since 2008, the Ballon d’Or has been won by either Ronaldo or Messi, despite the fact the Spanish league is little more than a two-horse race, with many of the other clubs merely cannon fodder for Barca and Real.
The prejudice against the Premier League is equally obvious. Michael Owen was the last player from an English club to win the Ballon d’Or, for Liverpool in 2001, even though Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United have all won the Champions League since then. Bayern fans must also wonder what their players have to do to receive recognition - other than relocate to Spain.
If further proof were needed of the Spanish influence it was provided by the composition of Fifa’s “Best” XI for 2016-17, which featured (counting Neymar as Barcelona): five players from Real Madrid, three from Barcelona and one each from PSG, Juventus and AC Milan.
No Premier League player was included, even though Harry Kane, Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku were all outstanding, the last two players scoring goals in struggling teams against stronger opponents, the sign of a top-class striker.
There was one prize for the Premier League, however: Olivier Giroud won the Puskas Award for the best goal of 2017, given for his “scorpion kick” against Crystal Palace in January.
Other award winners included Barcelona’s (surprise, surprise) Lieke Martens, voted best female player, and Real Madrid’s (surprise, surprise) Zinedine Zidane, who was named best coach.
