French football association surprised football fans around the world by including some controversial names in the 30-man Ballon d’Or 2019 shortlist.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Virgil Van Dijk stand face to face as rivals for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award, the 30-man shortlist announced by French Football Association confirmed on Monday.
These are the names everybody knows would be fighting out for the prize. Less appetizing for fans are the inclusions of four stars in particular whom they feel aren’t good enough to be counted among the best players in European football based on their performances from last season.
Huge Lloris is one such name. The Tottenham and France goalkeeper is an error-prone player who almost cost his national side the 2018 FIFA World Cup by dropping a clanger in the final against Croatia when the home side were enjoying a commanding lead of 4-1.
Even his performances for his club do not merit the 32-year-old’s inclusion in the Ballon d’Or shortlist. Spurs lost 20 games last season, the most in the living memory, and the error-prone goalkeeper had some horrible days on the pitch despite the fact that his club made it to the final of the UEFA Champions League.
