Several years later, Franck Ribery is still bitter at the mention of the Ballon d’Or 2013. “I experienced this third place as a terrible injustice,” he said, pointing to a lack of support from some teammates in France at the time.
On January 13, 2014, Cristiano Ronaldo won the 2013 Ballon d’Or with 27.99% of the votes ahead of Lionel Messi (24.72%). With 23.36%, Franck Ribery was relegated to third place. Five years later, the 35-year-old keeps a deep bitterness. “I saw myself as a Golden Ball,” he says in an interview with L’Equipe “It’s the truth, I still deserve it today, I still have not digested.” I really took a big hit on the head I experienced this third place as a terrible injustice I asked myself 10,000 times the question: why not me The more I thought, the more I was disgusted. was not clear.
“I had nothing to envy to Ronaldo and Messi that year”
In 2013, Franck Ribéry had achieved an exceptional season. “I had nothing to envy Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi that year,” he says, “I did everything I could to get it, I filled all the boxes, I won everything It was possible to win with Bayern: Champions League, Bundesliga-German Cup double, European Supercup, Club World Cup, UEFA European Player and Club World Cup. could not do better! I had a very, very, very personal year with my club, but also in the selection, and in the second leg I was also decisive in the play-offs against Ukraine (3-0). I do not understand why we had postponed the time for voting (fifteen days, ed). ” Officially, FIFA had declared the number of votes “too small to be representative” and had thus postponed the announcement of the winner.
Ribéry regrets the lack of support of some team members in selection
After announcing his international retirement in August 2014 after a back injury that had made him miss the World Cup in Brazil, Franck Ribery had regretted the lack of support of French football about his injury. And beforehand for the election of the most popular individual trophy. “For the Golden Ball, there are team members and people who weigh in French football who have not been in solidarity with me, I felt that these people would not have been happy that I was Ballon d’Or. ‘Gold. ”
“In France, in my country, there was always something to blame me .. Of course that outside the football I made bullshit.Everyone made it.But I also did a lot for my selection at the level too much has accumulated around me, I could not stand a certain hypocrisy anymore. “