CBS studio reacts to Jamie Carragher coming 'above' Cristiano Ronaldo in 2005 Ballon d'Or

CBS Sports pundits Thierry Henry and Micah Richards were understandably taken aback when they found out about Jamie Carragher's ranking in the 2005 Ballon d'Or ceremony.

Speaking in a segment ahead of Wednesday night's Champions League coverage, presenter Kate Abdo revealed a certain someone had earned a very respectable place in the star-studded list.

A total of 50 male players were compiled by a group of experts from France Football, including then-Barcelona forward Ronaldinho, who went on to win his first and only Ballon d'Or prize.

Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and John Terry also featured in the rankings alongside their England teammate Jamie Carragher.

That's right. Shortly after winning the Champions League, former Liverpool defender Carragher came in 20th ahead of Michael Essien, Luis Garcia and former winner Pavel Nedved, to name just a few.

Check out Henry and Richards' reaction to finding out below:

"Above Ronaldo!" 😅@carra23 was RIGHT THERE in Ballon d'Or voting back in 2005. 🥇 pic.twitter.com/uIpaj1Wso5

— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) October 25, 2023

Abdo rightly states that Carragher came joint 20th with Cristiano Ronaldo but the former Liverpool man got slightly carried away after seeing his name above Ronaldo's.

"Above Ronaldo!" he screamed as Henry and Richards laughed. "And this fella [Richards] says I can't touch him. Get that out on socials now! I knew I was above Ronaldo, but was Zidane ahead of me?"

It was actually Gianluigi Buffon who finished one place above Carragher in 19th, with then-Real Madrid midfielder Zinedine Zidane ranking 18th.

Lampard finished five votes behind eventual winner Ronaldinho as Steven Gerrard, Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko, Paolo Maldini, Adriano, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Kaka and Samuel Eto'o made up the top 10.

A total of 26 players were originally in contention for the 2005 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes. Those include David Beckham, Raul, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney.

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