If you think Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi were the best two players in the world last year, you’re obviously missing something – Roy Hodgson thought Javier Mascherano was number one.
The England boss’ top three picks for the Ballon d’Or have been revealed as Mascherano, Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer.
Ronaldo claimed the award for the second successive year after winning 37.66 per cent of all votes, while four-time world player of the year Messi was second with 15.76 per cent, just ahead of Neuer (15.72 per cent).
Hodgson’s choices have certainly raised a few eyebrows (or, to put it another way, everyone thinks they’re bonkers).
Only one other international manager selected Mascherano, the Barcelona and Argentina defender/midfielder, as their first choice for the award – Belarus boss Andrei Zygmantovitch.
And this was how people reacted…
Ronaldo and Messi are far and away the best players on the planet, how could they both possibly not be in your top 3?
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) January 12, 2015
Love Roy Hodgson going for a clean sheet with his Ballon D'or picks. 1)Mascherano 2)Lahm 3)Neuer.
— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) January 12, 2015
Interesting insight into Roy Hodgson and his philosophy. Not one creative flair player in his choices for BDO.
— Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) January 12, 2015
Roy Hodgson votes for Javier Mascherano for the Ballon d'Or. A player he tried to replace with Cristian Poulsen
— Evan Fanning (@evanfanning) January 12, 2015
Roy Hodgson voted Javier Mascherano for the Ballon d'Or. Yep that's the manager of our national team.
— Kai (@GoonerBBK) January 12, 2015
If that Hodgson vote is genuine, sack him now, @FA.
— Gaz Phiz (@blueboi1987) January 12, 2015
Meanwhile, people were suggesting other top threes Hodgson might have…
Roy Hodgson's top 3 James Bond actors: 3. Pierce Brosnan 2. Timothy Dalton 1. David Niven
— Gerry McCulloch (@gerrymcculloch1) January 13, 2015
Roy Hodgson's top three members of The Smiths: 3) Mike Joyce 2) Andy Rourke 1) Craig Gannon
— Jason (@NickMotown) January 13, 2015
Roy Hodgson's top three Star Wars films: 1. The Phantom Menace; 2. Attack of the Clones; 3. Revenge of the Sith #RoysTopThree
— Rob McKinlay (@rob_mckinlay) January 13, 2015
Roy Hodgson's top three members of the Beatles: 3) Pete Best 2) Stuart Sutcliffe 1) Yoko Ono
— charlie is blameless (@Frasersskiving) January 13, 2015
The England boss did get some support though – sort of.
Mascherano was better than all of that top three at the World Cup. And Hodgson got to watch an awful lot of that knockout stage .
— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) January 12, 2015
While Roy Hodgson picking Javier Mascherano to win the Ballon d'Or is funny, he was probably my player of the World Cup. Je Suis Roy.
— James McManus (@JamesMcManus1) January 12, 2015
Lads, forget about Roy Hodgson and remember if you lot had a vote then Harry Kane or Taylor Swift would have won the Ballon d'Or.
— (via @JonnyGabriel) (@JonnyGabriel) January 13, 2015
Incidentally, Hodgson isn’t the first England boss to stray from the norm when it comes to Fifa Ballon d’Or voting. Fabio Capello went for Maicon as one of his top three selections in 2010.
Maicon helped Inter Milan win the treble of Champions League, Serie A and Coppa Italia in 2010, but aside from Capello only five other coaches voted for the Brazil international – those from Albania, Bermuda, FYR Macedonia, Tajikistan and Venezuela.
Here’s how England coaches have voted since the inaugural FIFA Ballon d’Or in 2010:
2010: Fabio Capello: First: Andres Iniesta. Second: Xavi. Third: Maicon.
2011: Fabio Capello: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney.
2012: Roy Hodgson: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Radamel Falcao.
2013: Roy Hodgson: Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robin van Persie.
2014 Roy Hodgson: Javier Mascherano, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer.
Source: SNAPPA
