adminSikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S three representatives in the voting panel for the Fifa Ballon d’Or all got their choices right while Warriors coach Callisto Pasuwa was one of only four African coaches to vote for an African player.
The three representatives were Pasuwa, his Under-23 captain and FC Platinum player Wisdom Mutasa and respected television commentator Charles Mabika who all voted for the eventual winner Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid as their number one priority. Pasuwa had Lionel Messi of Argentina and Barcelona as his second choice while Yaya Toure of Cote d’Ivoire and Manchester City was his third choice. Mutasa had Messi on second and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard as his third choice while Mabika had Phillip Lahm on third and Messi on second.
By settling for the tall Ivorian, Pasuwa joined other African coaches, Niger’s Saidou Diabate, Nigeria’s Stephen Keshi and Lesotho’s Seephephe Matete who all voted for Toure. Surprisingly though, Toure’s national team coach, Herve Renard, did not vote for him.
For the Coach of the Year, won by Germany’s World Cup winner Joachim Loew, Pasuwa and Mabika got it right while young Mutasa settled for Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho as his first choice with Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti and Athletico Madrid’s Diego Simeone coming in on second and third place in his list.
Pasuwa’s second choice was Louis van Gaal and Mourinho was his third choice. Mabika settled for Ancelotti and Simeone.
According to the voting results, Ronaldo and Messi did not even vote for each other, the second time on the trot that the two stars have done that.
Ronaldo, voting in his capacity as the Portuguese national team squad, chose his teammates, Segio Ramos, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema while Messi who is the Argentine captain had his fellow national teammate Angel Di Maria as the first choice, Andres Iniesta his second and Javier Mascherano his third choice.
According to the rules of the allocation, the awards reward the best in each category, without distinction of championship or nationality, for their respective achievements during the period November 30, 2013 to November 21, 2014 inclusive.
The awards are bestowed according to on-field performance and overall behaviour on and off the pitch and the winners of the awards are selected by a diverse international jury made up of the current coaches of national teams, the current captains of national teams and specialist journalists (limited to one journalist per country for the men’s awards and one journalist per country for the women’s awards).
Captains of national teams can vote for coaches from the national/club team they represent, they can vote for players from the national/club team they represent but nominated captains and coaches are not permitted to vote for themselves.
Specialist journalists can vote for players and coaches who are from their own country or who represent clubs affiliated to their own country provided that any such vote is cast fairly and in accordance with the rules of allocation.
Online Reporter