Ballon d’Or: Wesley Sneijder Makes Strong Lionel Messi Claim on 2010 Award

• Wesley Sneijder has termed Lionel Messi's 2010 Ballon d'Or win as unfair
• Snjieder was many people's favourites after winning the treble with Inter Milan
• The Dutchman finished a distant fourth in the final vote

Wesley Sneijder admitted feeling robbed when Lionel Messi won the 2010 Ballon d'Or award.

Sneijder led one of the most dominant individual seasons in football history when he starred in an Inter Milan team under Jose Mourinho that won the Serie A, Coppa Italiana and the UEFA Champions League.

He then led the Dutch national team to the World Cup final, where they narrowly lost to Spain in extra time courtesy of an Andres Iniesta strike.

He was, however, beaten to the Ballon d'Or award for that year given to Barcelona's Lionel Messi. Even more bizarrely, Snjeider did not finish in the top three places, with Xavi Hernandez and Iniesta joining Messi on the podium.

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The 2010 Ballon d'Or race is often considered one of the most controversial awards in history, as previously reported by Sports Brief.

Sneijder: I deserved 2010 Ballon d'Or

Sneijder has joined the debate, arguing that if anyone deserved the award, it was him.

"It was a little unfair that I didn’t win the 2010 Ballon d’Or and Messi did," he said via Diario AS.

The retired midfielder has, however, reiterated that he prefers collective titles over individual honours.

"But, I’m not a guy who cries about that. The Ballon d’Or is an individual award, and I prefer to win collective trophies. If I had to choose between the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or, I would choose the Champions League I won, and I’m very happy with that title."

After leaving Inter Milan, Sneijder went to Galatasaray for four years before joining Nice and Qatari club Al Gharafa, where he retired in 2019.

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Messi gives opinion on Haaland and Mbappe

Sports Brief also reported on Messi winning his eighth Ballon d'Or award on October 30, ahead of Haaland and Mbappe.

However, the Argentine believes both of these youngsters will earn football's most coveted prize for themselves in the future.