The Ballon d'Or is the most prestigious individual award in all of football, and to be in with a chance of winning it, you have to be among the very best in the business. Considering it is only handed out once a year, there are bound to be a number of players who go their whole career without lifting the golden ball that believe they should have.
The likes of Franck Ribery and Andres Iniesta are just two names who many, including himself in the Frenchman's case, feel were robbed of being recognised as the best in the world. And former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has thrown another two names into the hat who can count themselves unlucky to have never been crowned.
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Ferdinand Claims Henry and Lewandowski Should've Won Ballon d'Or
The two strikers finished as second with their best finishes
Speaking in an interview with Robert Lewandowski on his YouTube channel, Ferdinand claimed that the Polish superstar and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry were the two players most deserving of winning the Ballon d'Or to never do so in their careers. Both men finished second, with Lewandowski falling short to Lionel Messi in 2021, and Henry suffering the same fate in 2003 despite outperforming eventual winner Pavel Nedvěd in several key areas.
In his discussion with the Pole, the ex-defender turned pundit stated:
"Covid took away this man's [Lewandowski's] Ballon d'Or. To think you didn't win a Ballon d'Or in that time. I can only think of Thierry Henry, he's the only other player I look at and go 'he should've won a Ballon d'Or.'"
Lewandowski looked set to claim his maiden Ballon d'Or in 2020, after his goals propelled Bayern Munich to the Champions League that year. However, the awards ceremony was cancelled, meaning that the striker never got what he truly deserved He dropped to second behind Messi the following year, with even the Argentine stating that he believed his competitor should've been handed the crown the year prior.
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Lewandowski and Henry's Feelings on Missing Out on Ballon d'Or
The pair have both commented on the matter
When asked how he felt about his Ballon d'Or snub by Ferdinand, the Barcelona number nine admitted he was confused why the awards were canned given that other major football competitions had gotten underway behind closed doors.
"At that time, I didn't understand," the veteran explained. "Every league was playing. Champions League was playing. I know how football works sometimes, politics also."
As for Henry, he was asked for his opinion on his Ballon d'Or snub during an appearance on CBS Sports, where the Frenchman gave a rather diplomatic response.
"You can't debate opinions. When journalists are involved in votes, they vote whatever they want.
"However you want to look at it, they vote whatever they want and when you look at the votes in the history of it, not only my year, every year, you look at the first three, and you're like, really? It is what it is. You can't debate opinions."