“I’ll tell you that I always hoped to compete for the Ballon d’Or over the years. It was always a topic of conversation in the dressing room at the clubs where I played.
When the awards ceremony started getting closer and journalists began speculating about the possible winners, many players allowed themselves to dream. I remember several teammates who hoped to win the Ballon d’Or: Francesco Totti at Roma, Zlatan Ibrahimović at Inter, and even Wesley Sneijder in 2010, who seemed on the verge of winning it.
We defenders are at a disadvantage because people only get excited about goals. There have been defenders with incredible careers, like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, who deserved a chance. The same goes for John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
But only Fabio Cannavaro managed to win it, thanks to Italy’s victory at the 2006 World Cup.