‘Lionel Messi won, what a surprise’ – Andrea Pirlo’s reaction when Ballon d’Or in 2012 was announced with Cristiano Ronaldo also beating him and Andres Iniesta

Andrea Pirlo is one of the many great players who fell victim of the success of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and never won the Ballon d’Or.

The two greats have won the prestigious individual award in 12 of the last 13 times it has been presented.

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Luka Modric broke their run in 2018, while the 2020 award was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Messi returned this year to pick up his seventh award and is now two ahead of Ronaldo.

At his best, legendary Italy midfielder Pirlo was unplayable and won numerous league titles, Champions Leagues and the World Cup.

But he was overlooked for the Ballon d’Or a number of times and recalled watching the 2012 edition in his book.

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It was his best chance when he was tipped by many to be in the running for the award alongside Andres Iniesta after the pair made it to the final of Euro 2012.

His reaction in his autobiography summed up exactly what he thought of the awards.

Pirlo wrote: “I don’t even properly watch the awards ceremony, even if it’s only once a year and I could really make the effort. I’ll have Sky Sports on in the background and get on with other stuff.

“The first time I finished seventh, I could hear FIFA president Sepp Blatter rambling in the distance. The same guy whose self-evident dislike for Italy had led him to delegate what he considered a horrible task of presenting us with the World Cup in 2006.

“I really couldn’t have cared less about what they were about to reveal. It could have been the fourth secret of Fatima or the first of Blatter. We didn’t sit down to hear the results.

“Messi won. What a surprise.

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“It was an inveitable, inarguable result. It crossed my mind that the World Cup and Champions League are worth a lot more than the Ballon d’Or, but I didn’t say it out loud.

“Otherwise I’d have to add that I’ve won both while Messi hasn’t managed the World Cup yet. I’d have come across as an arrogant snob and that’s something I’m really not.

“Ronaldo came second. Really? Iniesta third.

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“A few months previously, Iniesta had been named player of Euro 2020. Before the final against Spain, the guys from UEFA had blabbed to me that ‘you’re the best, but we’ll only give you the award if Italy win’. Needless to say we lost 4-0.

“The headline news was that the first two places had both gone to forwards. Very much in keeping with how the wider world ranks the importance of different positions.

“The really big mistake that some club presidents make is not realising that it’s a different story when it comes to building teams.”

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