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Real Madrid legend Toni Kroos seemingly took a jibe at the Ballon d'Or award during a recent event. The accolade is handed yearly by France Football to the best player in the world and is widely regarded as the biggest individual accolade in the sport.
At an event for 'The Icon League', which many are dubbing as the German iteration of the 'Kings League', Kroos was discussing how the competition's best player would be chosen. When the audience was being told that the community and the president would choose the winner, the German interrupted and said "or I'll decide", drawing laughs from the crowd.
The event's host added to Kroos' comment and remarked (via beIN Sports):
"It definitely won’t be like the Ballon d'Or, that much we can say."
Kroos instantly responded:
"No, here the one who deserves it will win."
As of now, the list of the 30 Ballon d'Or nominees is decided by France Football and L'Equipe journalists, the award's brand ambassador Didier Drogba, and three media members. Furthermore, nations ranked in the top 100 of the FIFA men's rankings and top 50 of the women's rankings receive a ballot to vote.
Kroos never won the prestigious award throughout his record-shattering career. The 2014 FIFA World Cup winner retired from the sport in May this year. He had 33 club titles to his name and registered 28 goals and 99 assists in 465 appearances during his 10 years at Real Madrid.
Kroos' senior career overlapped with those of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi — two of the most prolific Ballon d'Or winners in history. The duo won 13 Ballon d'Or titles between them since Kroos, now 34, made his Bundesliga debut with Bayern Munich in Sep. 2007.
Recalling Toni Kroos' criticism of the 2021 Ballon d'Or award winner
Back in November 2021, the then Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos was among a number of high-profile names who criticized Lionel Messi winning that year's Ballon d'Or award. Many thought Robert Lewandowski, who was arguably denied the honor in 2020 due to the event's cancelation due to COVID-19, should have won the following year as well.
That, however, wasn't the case. Lewandowski, despite scoring a staggering 58 goals in 47 matches across competitions and scoring a goal every 69 minutes in 2021, didn't enter the new year as a Ballon d'Or winner.
Messi was adjudged the victor, as he attained 33 more voting points than the Polish superstar's 580. Jorginho stood third on the podium. After the winner of the award was announced, Kroos made his opinion clear, stating (via Mirror in Nov. 2021):
"It is absolutely not deserved. There is no doubt that Messi, with Cristiano, has been the player of the last decade, but this year there should've been others ahead of him."
Messi went on to win the award again for a record-extending eighth time last year after Karim Benzema's win in 2022.
