For Franck Ribéry, “something strange happened” during the election of the Ballon d’Or 2013.
Nine years later, the pill has still not passed… During a long interview granted to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Franck Ribery notably returned to one of the biggest disappointments of his career: the 2013 Ballon d’Or. Erected as a big favorite, the French winger had finally finished, to everyone’s surprise, in third place after collecting 23.36 % of votes, behind Lionel Messi (24.72%) and the big winner Cristiano Ronaldo (27.99%).
Ronaldo ahead of Messi and Ribéry
A result all the more strange as the votes were extended for a month at the time, the most prestigious individual trophy in football was thus awarded on Monday January 13, 2014. Just enough time for the Portuguese star to score spirits by qualifying Portugal almost single-handedly for the 2014 World Cup during the play-off against Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s Sweden.
“Something strange happened”
An episode that stuck in Franck Ribéry’s throat. “It was unfair, I had an incredible year, I should have won it. They delayed the allocation of votes, something strange happened. It seemed like a political decision to me, ”lamented the Salernitana player in the columns of the transalpine media.
An exceptional year 2013
It must be said that the year 2013 of the native of Boulogne-sur-Mer was simply exceptional. Beyond his personal statistics – 22 goals and 18 assists – the “Kaiser’s” record speaks clearly for him: German champion, winner of the German Cup, the Champions League, the Supercup of Europe and the Club World Cup, five trophies which normally should have allowed him to win the Ballon d’Or.
