One of the best players the Premier League has ever seen is Thierry Henry. At the professional level, the Frenchman was a sensational talent who lit up the world for Barcelona and Arsenal.
Henry missed out on the highest level of individual recognition despite winning all the major team awards the sport has to offer, including the Premier League, Champions League, La Liga, and World Cup. It appeared that the Gunners hero would win the 2003 Ballon d’Or, but Pavel Nedved beat him to the position.
Many years later, when asked why he was passed up for the Golden Ball, the former France international said he was happy with the choice. Henry stated:
“Opinions cannot be debated. When journalists participate in voting, they cast their votes however they see fit.
“They vote whatever they want, no matter how you look at it. When you look at the votes throughout its history—not just in my year, but every year—you look at the first three and you think, really? It is what it is. Opinions cannot be debated.”
“It was a disgrace,” Henry said, incredulously, after Steven Gerrard’s Ballon d’Or rejection.
Henry has already discussed the “disgrace” that saw Liverpool hero Steven Gerrard lose out on the greatest individual prize in sports, even though he had accepted that the award was out of his control. Henry believed his friend should have received recognition for the crucial role the Reds’ skipper played in their incredible Champions League victory over AC Milan.
Gerrard eventually departed as one of the best midfielders the Premier League has ever seen, having enjoyed many more prosperous years in the game. The Liverpool great was consequently admitted into the division’s Hall of Fame. Henry expressed his opinions about his old rival on the Premier League website, saying:
“It was a disgrace he didn’t win European Footballer of the Year after Istanbul in 2005 and, for me, he will be regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time.”
Because it was solely available to those on the continent, the Ballon d’Or was once known as the European Football of the Year award. Frank Lampard and Ronaldinho, the winner, finished ahead of Gerrard, who came within three places of winning the prize that year.
Gerrard’s 2005 Champions League Heroics
Liverpool’s skipper pulled off the impossible in Istanbul
The biggest comeback in Champions League history was fuelled by Gerrard. The Reds not only overcame a 3-0 halftime deficit, but they also defeated Carlo Ancelotti’s AC Milan, one of the most gifted teams in the history of the game.
After winning the penalty that Xabi Alonso finally converted to tie the score at three, the Scouse hero first gave his club the lead with a looping header. In addition to being outstanding in the actual final, Gerrard played a key role in Liverpool’s progress to the championship game that year. He kept the Merseysiders in Europe with a clutch volley against Olympiacos.
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