{"id":15764,"date":"2018-11-13T17:08:03","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T17:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/?p=15764"},"modified":"2019-06-26T20:46:42","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T20:46:42","slug":"messi-ronaldo-race-win-ballon-dor-early-voting-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/messi-ronaldo-race-win-ballon-dor-early-voting-shows\/","title":{"rendered":"End Of An Era:Messi &#038; Ronaldo Out Of Race To Win Ballon D&#8217;or, Early voting shows."},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Former Real Madrid Star Ronaldo And Barcelona Rival Lionel Messi are set to be excluded from the Ballon d&#8217;or race as preliminary round of voting reveals.<\/h2>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7515973527815049\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"5197133662\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\nThe duo have been at the pinnacle of the world stage for over a decade with many calling for the trend to be ended in recent times, with Modric winning the recent FIFA Men&#8217;s Best Award earlier in September this year.<\/p>\n<p>Many however believe an abysmal World Cup for both players is the reason for this drop from the top three for the Ballon Do&#8217;r.<\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">According to French radio journalist Eric Mamruth, neither Ronaldo nor Messi is in contention to win sixth title as they are not in the top three spots for the contention.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"yoast-link-suggestion__value\" href=\"http:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/argentinas-demise-long-time-coming-messi-isnt-blame\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Argentina&#8217;s Demise Has Been A Long Time Coming And Messi Isn&#8217;t To Blame<\/a><br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7515973527815049\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"5197133662\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">Paris Saint Germain forward Kylain Mbappe and Raphael Varane in the second and third positions respectively.<\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">Although, the vote counting process is not concluded, the current results are said to be astonishing with the both Messi and Ronaldo missing in action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">Meanwhile, legends like Thierry Henry have voiced their opinions saying a Frenchman deserves to win the award after winning their second World Cup in Russia earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"yoast-link-suggestion__value\" href=\"http:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/ronaldo-messis-collapse-world-stage-still-remain-greatest-players-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ronaldo &amp; Messi Collapse On World Stage But Still Remain The Greatest Players In History<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"align-left\">&#8220;<i>I think it would be a shame if a French player does not win the Ballon d&#8217;Or, apart from Eden Hazard because he was extraordinary at every Wold Cup match &#8211; defensively and on the counter-attack<\/i>,&#8221; Henry said.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"yoast-link-suggestion__value\" href=\"http:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/cristiano-ronaldo-proves-real-football-behemoth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cristiano Ronaldo &#8211; A Real Football Behemoth<\/a><br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n     style=\"display:block; text-align:center;\"\n     data-ad-layout=\"in-article\"\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7515973527815049\"\n     data-ad-slot=\"5197133662\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><br \/>\nSo who do you think will win the Ballon do&#8217;r this year? Your guess is as good as mine but one thing is for sure, We are going to have a new winner for the first time in 10 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Real Madrid Star Ronaldo And Barcelona Rival Lionel Messi are set to be excluded from the Ballon d&#8217;or race as preliminary round of voting reveals. The duo have been at the pinnacle of the world stage for over a decade with many calling for the trend to be ended in recent times, with Modric<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7775],"tags":[6677,70,72,8469],"class_list":{"0":"post-15764","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-worldfootball","8":"tag-ballon-dor","9":"tag-messi","10":"tag-ronaldo","11":"tag-world-football"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Ronaldo.Messi_.combo_.2018.356x237.png?fit=356%2C237&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8jzHl-46g","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39443,"url":"https:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/how-ghana-voted-in-the-2023-ballon-dor-awards\/","url_meta":{"origin":15764,"position":0},"title":"How Ghana voted in the 2023 Ballon d&#8217;or Awards","author":"Clinton Eleto","date":"November 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Lionel Messi accepted his 8th Ballon d'Or Award on Monday, he became the world's best football player for the record eighth time. The Argentinian competed for the prestigious award against Erling Haaland who had a remarkable season with Manchester City, where he won the treble and broke records with his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;African Football&quot;","block_context":{"text":"African Football","link":"https:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/category\/african-football\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-11-04-at-07.58.49_972d662d.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-11-04-at-07.58.49_972d662d.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-11-04-at-07.58.49_972d662d.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-11-04-at-07.58.49_972d662d.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-11-04-at-07.58.49_972d662d.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18025,"url":"https:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/african-players-not-valued-europe-thomas-partey\/","url_meta":{"origin":15764,"position":1},"title":"African players are not valued in Europe &#8211; Thomas Partey","author":"Clinton Eleto","date":"February 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Ghana International and Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey says there is massive discrimination against African players in Europe. Thomas Partey has been in Spain, playing for Atletico Madrid since 2013, and he believes that African players are not valued in Europe. \u201cIf we are compared with European players, it looks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;African Football&quot;","block_context":{"text":"African Football","link":"https:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/category\/african-football\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"African players are not valued in Europe - Thomas Partey","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Partey-4.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Partey-4.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Partey-4.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.saharafootball.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Partey-4.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15071,"url":"https:\/\/www.saharafootball.net\/ronaldo-messis-collapse-world-stage-still-remain-greatest-players-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":15764,"position":2},"title":"Ronaldo &#038; Messi Collapse On World Stage But Still Remain The Greatest Players In History","author":"Selasi Fiawoyi","date":"June 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As Cristiano Ronaldo was brandished a second yellow card of the tournament that effectively ruled him out of the quarter finals which they had no hope of reaching, that feeling must have rung in him once again, \"I have failed at the world cup again\". 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