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A list of legends who failed to get a single Ballon d'Or vote in 2005 before Lionel Messi changed the game

A list of legends who failed to get a single Ballon d'Or vote in 2005 before Lionel Messi changed the game

David Beckham, Andrea Pirlo and Wayne Rooney feature on the list.

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare

A list of players who failed to receive a single Ballon d'Or vote in 2005 features some legendary names, including David Beckham, Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

A group of experts from France Football compiled a 50-strong shortlist of male players ahead of the award ceremony in Paris, including then-Barcelona forward Ronaldinho, who went on to win his only Ballon d'Or prize.

England pair Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard ended up finishing second and third respectively, while Chelsea captain John Terry narrowly missed out on the top 10.

Much to the surprise of CBS pundits Thierry Henry and Micah Richards this week, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher picked up several votes after lifting the Champions League in 2005.

Carragher placed 20th ahead of Michael Essien, Luis Garcia and former winner Pavel Nedved, to name just a few.

So who missed out? A total of 26 players were originally in contention for the 2005 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes.

We'll break it down by country. England trio David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen failed to earn any votes, and neither did several Brazil players, including Ronaldo, Dida, Roberto Carlos and Robinho.

A total of four players from France also feature, including Juventus players Patrick Vieira and David Trezeguet.

Here is the list in full below:

Image credit: Wikipedia
Image credit: Wikipedia

After winning the award in 2005, a delighted Ronaldinho said: "To be here with all those great players applauding me is a dream come true. This gives me motivation to keep working and try to emulate them.

"I have the chance to do for a living what I like the most in life, and that's playing football. I can make people happy and enjoy myself at the same time."

Fabio Cannavaro and Kaka would lift the prestigious trophy in 2006 and 2007 respectively before Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominated for years to come.

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Featured Image Credit: Getty Images

Topics: Ballon d'Or, Premier League, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

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@jackkenmare_