Former Real Madrid Star Wesley Sneijder Answers Whether He Was ‘Robbed’ of Ballon d’Or 14 Years Ago
Former Real Madrid midfielder Wesley Sneijder has addressed whether he was 'robbed' of the Ballon d'Or award in 2010.
In a recent interview, the Dutchman suggested that people still tell him that he should have won the award 14 years ago. Sneijder further added that winning team trophies is much more important to him than winning an individual award.
Back in 2010, Sneijder was one of the frontrunners for the Ballon d'Or as he helped Inter Milan win the European treble in 2009-10. He was also pivotal as the Netherlands reached the 2010 FIFA World Cup final. However, Lionel Messi won the award that year with Spanish World Cup winners Iniesta and Xavi completing the podium.
Sneijder surprisingly didn't make the top three that year and addressing the matter, the midfielder said in a recent interview:
To be honest, I'm more happy by the fact that now in 2024, 14 years later, people are still talking about it and they're telling me like "Wes, you got robbed in 2010. Imagine I won it and people now are saying, "yeah but he robbed it". Individual prizes are nice but team prizes, raising the cup, the Champions League, are for me more valuable than winning the Golden Ball.
- Wesley Sneijder
🗣️ Wesley Sneijder: "I got robbed of not winning the 2010 Ballon d'Or. But to be honest, I'm more happy by the fact that people are still talking about it 14 years later. And they're telling me like 'Wes, you got robbed in 2010'. pic.twitter.com/F9vRHafNlb
— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) November 1, 2024
Wesley Sneijder's Real Madrid career
Wesley Sneijder joined Real Madrid from Ajax in 2007 and played two seasons for the Madrid giants. He made 66 appearances for Los Blancos, scoring 11 goals and providing 12 assists across competitions. Sneijder won La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana in 2007-08. He joined Inter Milan in 2008-09 and won the treble in his first season with the Nerazzuri.
Sneijder also played for Ajax, Galatsaray, and more clubs during his career. He made 134 appearances for the Oranjes during his international career, scoring 31 goals and providing 32 assists. Sneijder reached the FIFA World Cup final in 2010 and the FIFA World Cup semi-finals in 2014 with the Dutch national team.
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