Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have all been shortlisted for UEFA’s Best Player in Europe Award today and it’s hard to suggest anyone who would have a claim to being nominated ahead of the three.
Naturally, as the pair always do, Ronaldo and Messi will be seen as the favourites for the award, based on their phenomenal scoring records over the last year, but will the more subtle skills of Andres Iniesta grab him the prize? The competition is wide open this year and all three candidates have achieved success worthy of pinching the crown.
Just for those unaware of the previously mentioned stats for club and country in 2011/12, here they are:
Played / Goals / Assists
Cristiano Ronaldo: 67 / 71 / 16
Lionel Messi: 73 / 77 / 27
Andres Iniesta: 60 / 9 / 12
It’s fairly clear to see that a result based on these offers Iniesta little hope but he’s never been the type to prolifically score and as a midfielder is going to receive less opportunities in goal scoring positions than the two strikers.
Where Iniesta excels in is his ability to keep the ball moving forward at all times. Statistics cannot prove this but if you look at the majority of Barcelona and Spain’s goals where he hasn’t scored or assisted, it is often his pass that leads to the assist. Unlike Ronaldo and Messi, Iniesta is a very unselfish player and knows his limitations. In Ronaldo and Messi’s defence it could be claimed they have very few limitations anyway.
Ronaldo will have the advantage domestically having helped guide his Real Madrid side to La Liga glory ahead of Barcelona, who of course Messi and Iniesta ply their trade for. That piece of silverware could be influential in the judges final decision as there can be no argument that he was the most important player by far in that Championship winning side.
Messi may be able to put across the argument that he could do little to stop Barcelona from relinquishing the title having provided 50 goals and 15 assists in La Liga alone last season in just 37 games but for Leo once again his international form has been average by his high standards, with just 4 goals in 13 games.
Internationally Iniesta will feel particularly delighted with his contribution and the Spaniard was rightfully named Player of the Tournament at Euro 2012 having helped push Spain towards an unprecedented third straight major tournament victory. Four Man of the Match awards in six games ensured that there really was no other player worthy of uprooting Iniesta from the honour.
Like Iniesta, Ronaldo also fared fairly successfully internationally with a strong showing at Euro 2012. Starting off slow many wrote him off but the Portuguese trickster laughed in the face of his critics as his 3 goals and constant dangerous presence helped Portugal towards the Semi Final. Unfortunately for Ronaldo he offered the media up plenty of ammo to fire at him in the semi when he held himself back for the fifth penalty in a shootout versus Iniesta’s Spain, only for two Portuguese players to miss before him and deny him the chance to even take one at all.
There is no denial here that Ronaldo and Messi would be worthy winners of the award but wouldn’t it be nice to see somebody different? With the success he achieved at Euro 2012 and his consistency alongside his fantastic professionalism for club and country, it is time for Iniesta to finally get the full recognition he deserves and scoop up UEFA’s award.
image: © mariosp
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