France Football announced the names of the players that make up the Ballon d'Or Dream Team, the award that designates the best footballers in history. The chosen goalkeeper was Yashin, who prevailed over the rest of the candidates, including Iker Casillas. The Black Spider won the Ballon d'Or at the time and is considered a true legend of Soviet football and Dynamo Moscow.
As for the defenders, Cafu was the right back. The Brazilian won two World Cups with Brazil and was in charge of lifting the Cup in 2002, as well as having a very long career in Italy with Roma and Milan. Another Milan player, Paolo Maldini, occupies the left-back demarcation, after his brilliant career in the rossonero team and in the Italian team. In the central section, the chosen one was Beckenbauer. The Kaiser was the most voted ahead of others such as Sergio Ramos, who is unlucky to be in the best team in history.
Midfielders
The good news for Spanish football is that Xavi is one of the midfielders that make up the team. The Catalan, leader of the best Barça and the best Selection of all time, obtained recognition after his complete career as a creator of the game. Curiously, France Football integrates him into its eleven as a Defensive Midfielder. Along with him, the other midfielder of that court is Lothar Matthaus, the German who won the World Cup and commanded Bayern.
The other two holes in the lineup for midfielders are for Pelé and Maradona. Considered two of the greatest ever, the Brazilian star and the Argentine occupy the position of Offensive Midfielders. The debate over who was better between Pelé and Maradona lasted for several decades and both were world champions respectively with Brazil and Argentina. There was no doubt that they would be in eleven.
With Messi and CR7
Finally, the names of the forwards who crown the Ballon d'Or Dream Team were announced. How could it be otherwise, both Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are in that shortlist, the two footballers who have won the most Ballons d'Or in their careers with six and five respectively. Messi appears as an attacker on the right, while Cristiano does so on the left.
Argentine and Portuguese took their football rivalry to the maximum in Madrid and Barça, which allowed them to win countless titles and individual awards. The team is closed by Ronaldo Nazario, the Brazilian forward who triumphed at Barça, Inter and Madrid, and who was world champion with Brazil on two occasions, one of them also being the best player of the tournament in 2002.
Thus, the final team is: Yashin; Cafu, Beckenbauer, Maldini; Matthaus, Xavi, Maradona, Pele; Messi, Ronaldo and Cristiano.
Who votes for the best?
The votes of the winners were cast by the 140 members of the France Football jury spread throughout the world, one per country, based on their correspondents and analysts. In the case of Spain, the vote corresponds to Alfredo Relaño, honorary president of Diario AS.
It should be remembered that France Football decided this year to award this award in homage to the trajectory of footballers and not the traditional Ballon d'Or as a result of the pandemic that caused some championships, especially the French one, to not be concluded. That especially hurt Robert Lewandowski, who appeared as a great favorite to win it after his exceptional 2020 and who also opts for The Best, which will be delivered on Thursday, December 17, at a virtual gala in Zurich.