Uganda Cranes national coach Bobby Williamson and his skipper, Andrew Mwesigwa voted differently in last night’s FIFA Ballon D’or footballer of the year awards gala in Zurich, Switzerland. The official list of votes released by FIFA also shows some seemingly bitter votes that where cast by world soccer stars.
The Scotsman went for Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo as his first choice and the eventual winner Lionel Messi as his second choice while his third vote was cast for on form Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who plays his football for La-Liga giants Atletico De Madrid. In the Coach of the year category, Williamson opted for former Chelsea manager Roberto Di Mateo followed by Bayern Munich’s Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola.
National team skipper, Andrew Mwesigwa went for the clear favourite Lionel Messi as his first choice and his second choice was a surprise in Italian play-maker – Andrea Pirlo. The captain wound up his ballots by choosing Christiano Ronaldo as his third option. The captain selected Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson as coach of the year followed by Roberto Mancini and Roberto Di Mateo respectively.
The other votes cast from Uganda were by renowned journalist Fred Musisi Kiyingi of Daily Monitor selecting Lionel Messi, Iker Casillas and Christiano Ronaldo respectively in the player of the year category. Musisi selected eventual winner Vicente Del Bosque as coach of the year, followed by Di Mateo and Mourinho.
Neighbouring countries Kenya and Tanzania national coach and captains do not appear on the official list of voters released by FIFA. However, Kenyan Media representative, Charles Nyende of the Daily Nation voted, Messi, Ronaldo and Aguerro in that order. His Tanzanian counterpart Boniface Wambura voted Ronaldo, Messi and Iniesta respectively.
A few votes by world stars are bound to raise a few eyebrows as Spanish Captain Iker Casillas over looked influential team mate Christiano Ronaldo instead opting for Sergio Ramos as his first choice and Ronaldo as his second with Xavi getting his third.
Eventual winner, Lionel Messi surprisingly did not consider rival Christiano Ronaldo at all, going for Iniesta, Xavi and Aguerro respectively. Similarly, Argentine coach Alejandro Sabella did not pick Ronaldo for any of the three positions. The Portuguese took a similar path with Bruno Alves going Ronaldo, Falcao and Van Persie though Paolo Bento selected Ronaldo, Falcao and included Messi as his third.
You can view the full list of votes cast for Player of the year and the list for coach of the year or