Casillas picks Ramos over Ronaldo & Gerrard backs Messi: Who voted for who in 2012 Fifa Ballon d’Or?

Etugbo.wordpresscom analyses who some of the game’s biggest
names voted for in the award and breaks down the
final results after the Barcelona star triumphed for a
fourth time
Lionel Messi has won his fourth Ballon d’Or title,
scooping the prestigious individual award over
runner-up Cristiano Ronaldo and third-place team-
mate Andres Iniesta.
Radamel Falcao finished up in fifth, behind another
Barcelona stalwart, Xavi, while Iker Casillas came in
at sixth.
Andrea Pirlo, Didier Drogba, Robin van Persie and
Zlatan Ibrahimovic made up a star-studded final top
10 for the calendar year of 2012.
After the awards ceremony, Fifa has released an
intriguing list of the full votes for the award, which is
decided based on decisions made by international
coaches, captains and a selection of media
representatives from each member nation.
The voting list reveals some decisions that would
raise few eyebrows, but other ones that can be
considered as particularly surprising.
In England’s votes, both manager Roy Hodgson and
captain Steven Gerrard voted for the brilliant Messi
as their winner, with Ronaldo in second.
They differed with their decisions for third-place,
though, as the Three Lions boss went for Falcao,
while the Liverpool captain opted for former team-
mate Xabi Alonso.
For Spain, boss Vicente Del Bosque, who himself
was recognised on the night with the Coach of the
Year award, went for three of his own players;
Casillas, Xavi and Iniesta in the top three positions.
Casillas himself had a vote and very surprisingly
opted for club and international team-mate Sergio
Ramos as his No.1 pick, with Ronaldo only second
ahead of Iniesta, perhaps hinting at why the
Portuguese ace felt his club were not fully supportive
of his Ballon d’Or bid.
Messi had a vote as captain for Argentina and did
not select Ronaldo in his top three at all, opting for
Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Aguero. Alejandro Sabella
voted for Messi, with Ronaldo also absent from his
selections.
Portugal matched that tactic, as Bruno Alves, who
was voting in place of Ronaldo, went for his team-
mate as top pick with Messi not in the top three,
although Paulo Bento did name the Argentine in
third.
Italy boss Cesare Prandelli voted for his star player
Pirlo over Gianluigi Buffon and then Messi, while
Buffon himself also went for the Juventus midfielder
as his top choice.
Philipp Lahm backed Iniesta over Messi and
Ronaldo, while Germany coach Joachim Low voted
Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Xavi as his top three.
France coach Didier Deschamps backed Messi over
Ronaldo and Xavi, while Hugo Lloris stayed loyal to
the goalkeepers’ union by voting Casillas as No.1
over Falcao and Drogba.
Brazil skipper Thiago Silva’s votes were
unremarkable, with Messi beating Ronaldo to top
spot and his PSG team-mate Ibrahimovic in third.
Louis van Gaal voted for Messi over Ronaldo and
Falcao, while Netherlands captain Wesley Sneijder
voted Van Persie over Messi (second) and Ronaldo
(third).
Darren Fletcher, who was casting votes as Scotland
captain, backed former team-mate Ronaldo at No.1,
with Messi and club team-mate Robin van Persie as
his other selections.
For a full breakdown of the Ballon d’Or votes, click
here to see Fifa’s full list from national captains,
coaches and media representatives.

PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL
FINAL VOTE
1. LIONEL MESSI – 41.6%

2. CRISTIANO
RONALDO – 23.68%

3. ANDRES
INIESTA – 10.91%

4. XAVI – 4.08%

5. RADAMEL
FALCAO – 3.67%

6. IKER CASILLAS – 3.18%

7. ANDREA PIRLO – 2.66%

8. DIDIER DROGBA – 2.6%

9. ROBIN VAN
PERSIE – 1.45%

10. ZLATAN
IBRAHIMOVIC – 1.24%

Posted by Joseph Etugbo