Today, the Fan Park crew takes a look at five legendary players that have won the Ballon D'Or since it was first awarded in 1956.
Alfredo Di Stefano
The legendary Real Madrid star, who won the European Cup five times in his career, won the award twice in 1957 and 1959 for the way he brought football to the global stage and promoted that famous Real Madrid team that got European football up and running. Di Stefano was the talisman and is regarded by many as the greatest player of all time.
Eusebio
Portugal's Mozambique-born striker was the driving force behind Benfica's team that became the first team to beat Di Stefano's Madrid. His power up front and exceptional skills with the ball saw him finally recognized for his greatness in 1965 when France Football handed him the award.
Franz Beckenbauer
Bayern Munich legend, Franz Beckenbauer, won the Ballon D'Or twice in 1972 and 1976 courtesy of a hugely successful career that saw him win three European Cups in a row and also the 1974 World Cup with West Germany in 1974. As an old-fashioned Sweeper he could do anything from make vital tackles at the back to scoring spectacular goals up front.
Zinedine Zidane
Zizou is a modern footballing legend. In the 1990s and 2000s, his incredible work in midfield saw him worshipped for the feats that he was able to achieve with the ball. He won an incredible amount of silverware for his various clubs and with his country France, which include the 1998 World Cup and the 2002 Champions League with Real Madrid. He was awarded with the Ballon d'Or in 1998 mostly due to his exploits in the World Cup that year, but also due to his performances with Juventus in the Serie A and the Champions league, which they won and finished runners-up in, respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo/Lionel Messi
This last spot on our list was very difficult to decide on and I just had to pick either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi… In the end, I've decided that, combined, nobody can touch them. They are the 'yings' to each other's 'yangs'. Their fierce rivalry has kept them challenging one another for years and has allowed them to dominate World football for the past six years (with Ronaldo winning the Ballon d'Or twice and Messi on four occasions). It would seem that Ronaldo will be claiming his third award tonight and you can be sure that, in 2015, either he or Messi or both will be in the race for yet another title. The two of them can easily be considered to be in the same bracket as the other legends in this article.
There are so many names that I wish I could have included, because almost all of the greats have won it before… Who do you think is the greatest player to have won the Ballon d'Or?
