Former Barcelona midfielder Edgar Davids insists Lionel Messi is a phenomenal footballer and suggests the Argentine will win the 2015 FIFA Ballon d’Or award.
Messi was on Monday named as one of the three nominees for the prize alongside current holder Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi’s team-mate Neymar Jnr.
The former Netherlands star spoke to FIFA.com on the nominees for the award.
“Messi is just an anomaly, he can dribble, he can score, he can pass. He has the vision, he understands the game,” he said.
“Ronaldo is just an athlete. He works so hard and back to back, he is always there.”
Davids even suggested Messi’s talents cannot be matched by Real Madrid star Ronaldo.
“Can you be like Ronaldo? Yes, to a certain extent.
“But if you work hard can you be like Messi? No, that’s impossible.”
Davids who also played for Inter Milan Juventus and Ajax where he won the UEFA Champions League alongside former Super Eagles stars Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George in 1995 believes Neymar will not be able to win the award just yet but will be crowned the world’s best soon.
“No, he is not ready, (but) he is almost there.”
The winner will be announced on January 11, 2016 in Zurich.
Meanwhile Aya Miyama, Carli Lloyd and Célia Šašić were nominated for the World Player of the Year in the women category.
Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and national team coach of Chile Jorge Sampaoli were nominated for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s category.
Jill Ellis (USA/USA national team), Mark Sampson (Wales/English national team) and Norio Sasaki (Japan/Japanese national team) are the contenders for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football award.
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