Don’t bother tuning into the Ballon d’Or ceremony on Jan. 11, FIFA already revealed the winner.
Even Julia Roberts’ Kids Prefer Messi Over Ronaldo
Soccer’s governing body accidentally leaked the winners of the prestigious award on their website on Wednesday, per the Daily Mail. Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi topped the list of finalists that included Cristiano Ronaldo and his Barcelona teammate Neymar.
Celia Sasic was also revealed as the winner of the women’s Ballon d’Or.
Messi Fans Still Can’t Pay Ronaldo His Proper Respect
Daily Mail: Ballon d'Or awards are set to be announced on 11th JAN but FIFA's website listed the winners. LOL pic.twitter.com/PUxHtpZbNr
— M.A.J (@UltraSuristic) January 6, 2016
Both names were swiftly removed from the website, but the “suspense” was already ruined.
One person -- besides Ronaldo of course -- who won’t be pleased with the announcement is Kevin Keegan. The former European player of the year is a proponent of celebrating the game’s best talents, not pinning them against each other.
“Everyone wants you to say: 'who do you think is best?'," he told Sc.qa, per Goal. "But I always say: 'Just think how lucky we are to have two players like this.’ It doesn't happen very often and really they [Ronaldo and Messi] should have shared it for the last four years.
“You could say 'joint winners Ronaldo and Messi’ because the two of them have been on a different level to everyone."
Messi and Ronaldo’s numbers support that notion.
Europe's top five highest scorers of 2015: • Ronaldo - 57 • Messi - 52 • Lewandowski 49 • Suarez - 48 • Aubameyang // Ibrahimovic - 46
— TheSPORTbible (@TSBible) January 1, 2016
But there’s only one number that matters to voters.
MESSI v RONALDO in 2015 Ronaldo scored 5 more goals. Messi won 5 more trophies. pic.twitter.com/cez7upQ0wg
— Football Tips (@footballtips) January 1, 2016
Messi -- alongside Neymar and Luis Suarez -- walked away with the Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup trophy in 2015.
As romantic as Keegan’s sentiment is, it’s separation enough to warrant Messi’s fifth Ballon d’Or honor.
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This happened the last time Messi played in the Copa del Rey #golazo pic.twitter.com/haexHTXsWB
— MESSISTATS (@MessiStats) January 6, 2016
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