From the history of the Ballon d’Or: Only three times has a defender or goalkeeper won

In the 60-year history of the Ballon d’Or, only three footballers have won the award while playing as a defender or goalkeeper. The Ballon d’Or is to some extent a popularity poll and it is important to remember that it is better and more likely to reward goals scored and chances created than successful defensive interventions and chances wasted. That is why the three historic triumphs of defensive footballers remain as certain uniquenesses.

The first ever defensive player to dominate this most prestigious football poll was legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin. The Black Panther, or Spider as Yashin was nicknamed in the football world, won his Golden Ball for 1963, beating out strikers Gianni Rivera and Jimmy Greaves in the voting.

Yashin linked his professional career with the then Soviet club Dynamo Moscow. At the national team level, he helped the Soviet Union to gold at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, gold at the 1960 Euro in France and silver at the 1964 Euro in Spain.

The second defensive footballer in history to win the Ballon d’Or was German stopper Franz Beckenbauer. The legend of German football and Bayern Munich even won this individual award twice, in 1972 and 1976.

In his first win, he beat his offensive compatriots Gerd Müller and Günter Netzer, and four years later finished ahead of Dutch striker Rob Rensenbrink and Czechoslovakian goalkeeper Ivo Viktor.

Beckenbauer’s career is intertwined with great successes and triumphs. As a player he has a silver from the 1966 World Championship, a bronze from the 1970 World Championship and finally a gold from the 1974 World Championship. At the 1972 European Championships Beckenbauer won gold, four years later he took silver. To this we can add countless triumphs on the domestic and European stage with Bayern Munich or Beckenbauer’s other medals from his coaching career.

The last defender to take home the most valuable trophy from the traditional gala was Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro in 2006. The Naples native has also played for Juventus and Real Madrid in addition to Parma and Inter Milan, where he made his biggest name.

At the 2006 World Cup in Germany, he captained Italy to overall triumph and was also present at the European Championship silver at the turn of the millennium. On the club scene he counts two titles with Real Madrid, the 2004/05 Serie A title was stripped from him due to the Juventus corruption scandal. A UEFA Cup win with Parma of Italy can also be counted among his list of achievements.

So far, the last defender to come very close to winning was Dutch stopper Virgil Van Dijk two years ago, who lost to Lionel Messi by just seven points. Among goalkeepers, the last time German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer finished third was in 2014.

Source: France Football