The Ballon D'or

Yet again it's the trio of Messi, Ronaldo and Iniesta, but for the briefest of moments Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon and Mario Balotelli were in with a shot. No one can complain that the three listed should not be in a shot to win it, yet it does feel that La Liga is the preferred choice.

Both Pirlo and Buffon have had long careers at the very top and should be recognised for that. Buffon began his career at Parma at just 13 years of age and graduated to the senior level at 17, he had the coolness to get a clean sheet against the mighty Milan in his debut appearance in Serie A.. He is now 34 and he is still at the highest level. He is plying his trade with The Mighty Old Lady, Juventus. A Juventus side that are still on top of Serie A and were unbeaten all last season and that record was only broken this month by Inter.

Gigi has won the most prestigious award with Italy which is the World Cup in 2006, he has also won 3 Serie A titles , 1 Serie B title and Serie A goalkeeper of the year 8 times he has also won recognition from the IFFHS as the best goalkeeper of the 21st century- amongst many others! Now, you can't be blamed for feeling a little confused as to why he has been omitted.

The last Italian to win this prestigious award was Fabio Cannavaro he helped Italy win the World Cup in 2006, Buffon came in second that year, one could argue that Buffon should have won it that year, especially since he only conceded once from open play- and that was an unfortunate own goal.

Goalkeepers are often overlooked in these awards, but in my eyes Buffon is more than a goalkeeper, he is a leader both on and off the pitch. He gives his team mates confidence and advice when required and he is respected and above all.. loved by everyone because above all he exudes class.

Andrea Pirlo at the age of 33 shows no sign of stopping, After spending 10 years at Milan He has won 2 Champions Leagues and has won the league twice with the Milan club and once with Juventus, he was a vital component of Juventus' unbeaten run. He was also a key player at the 2006 World Cup victory where he also won Man of the match for game against Ghana, Germany and the Final against France, World Cup Top Assist Playmaker and he was also in the FiFPro 1X in 2006.

More recently, he was a vital component of Italy's progress to the final of Euro 2012.  During the tournament he was named as Man of the Match for games against Croatia, England and Germany. He was also named in the Euro Team of the Tournament 2012 and it was no surprise as he is always calm and decisive which was made evident in the game against England where he went for that cheeky chip during his penalty against Joe Hart, only someone who exudes confidence and class could get away with that!

Like I said at the start, it is no surprise that players like Ronaldo and Messi have been shortlisted for this award, players that score over 80 goals for their club team can hardly be ignored! Also Iniesta was the player that outdone Pirlo at Euro 2012, all I'm saying is that it's slightly saddening that other great players get dismissed, I mean players who have achieved as much as Pirlo and Buffon, they should also get some form of recognition- shouldn't they?