ballon d'or 2012
Defender Sergio Ramos is finally getting the recognition he has long fought for.
At age 33, Italian defender Andrea Pirlo is having one of the best years of his historic career.
Gerard Pique had another tremendous year and he is in contention for the Ballon d'Or in this second nomination.
Mesut Ozil is currently in contention for his third straight Ballon d'Or. The German midfielder has had a tremendous season, though one marred by mitigated success.
At the ripe age of 20, Neymar is starting to make headlines as soccer's next super star. The Brazilian star is being nominated for his second straight Ballon d'Or and is looking to break into the top three for the first time ever.
Who is better? Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi? The two greatest living soccer players not only compete in the same league but for rival squads. Messi has had the edge over Ronaldo the last few years as Barcelona has been the supreme squad in European soccer, but Ronaldo may be having the best year of his career. Every week Latinos post compares both players and tries to determine who had the better performance during the week.
Let us look at what the two superstars accomplished during the twelfth week of La Liga.
The third goalie to appear on the Ballon d'Or nominees list is Germany's Manuel Neuer.
Lionel Messi has always been the world's greatest player since 2009 when he won his first Ballon d'Or. This year he looks to make it four in a row and his year has indicated that this is certainly possible. If he wins the award, he becomes the first player in history to earn the award and questions about whether he is best player ever will certainly heat up.
Andres Iniesta is having arguably the best year of his career.
Sweden's captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic has finally been nominated for Ballon D'Or at the age of 31.
At age 34, Didier Drogba is the oldest player on the ballot to win the Ballon d'Or. He was nominated back in 2010 and finished in 9th place in the voting, but missed out on the top 23 list last season.
Sergio Busquets obtained his first Ballon d'Or nomination after providing numerous years of solid play for both Barcelona and the Spanish national team.
Gianluigi Buffon has earned his first Ballon D'Or nomination from FIFA after what has been one of the best years of his career.
With this year's nomination for the 2012 Ballon D'Or, Frenchman Karim Benzema has now been nominated for the prestigious award two years in a row.
The ever-controversial Mario Balotelli is now in contention for his first Ballon D'Or nomination.
