Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk took a swipe at rival Cristiano Ronaldo, who opted to skip the Ballon d'Or awarding ceremony. The Dutchman joked Ronaldo was not even in contention for the honor, which eventually went to Barcelona's Lionel Messi.
At the event, Van Dijk was asked to comment on Ronaldo's absence and the Netherlands international was quick to brush aside the significance of the five-time winner's apparent snub, Metro reported.
"Was he a rival then?" the smiling Liverpool superstar was reported as saying.
On a serious note, Van Dijk admitted that being shortlisted for the award, which also considered six of his Liverpool teammates, was an honor by itself, stressing that "there's going to be a winner but there are no losers."
"I am going to have a look at what it is about. I am going to be there for a reason and there are no losers on the evening ... It is just something to be proud of because not a lot of players go there and are up for these kind of things," Van Dijk said in an interview.
The Dutchman was earlier voted as UEFA Player of the Year but he will have to wait out for another shot at Ballon d'Or. Again, the honor went to Messi and it will be the Argentine's sixth, the most so far for any player.
Van Dijk's coach at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, offered his thoughts on the matter and indicated all nominated deserved to win and for specific reasons, especially on the case of Van Dijk and Messi.
"If you give the Ballon d'Or to the best player of this generation then you should give it always to Lionel Messi. That's how it is. But if you give it to the best player of last season, then it was Virgil Van Dijk," the Express reported the German manager as saying.
Nonetheless, CNN reported that Messi getting the coveted title anew was much deserved. Messi has already won 10 La Liga trophies for Barcelona, the victories backed by his domination of Europe's scoring competition. He has been the continent's scoring leader in the past three seasons.
In the current season, seemed geared up to regain the title as he has already netted nine goals, the latest of which was winning score in a recent match against Atletico Madrid.
"Messi has maintained his ridiculously high levels over the last 12 months," the same report said.
Had Van Dijk garnered the required votes, he would have become the first defender to win the honor in more than a decade. CNN said the last defender listed as Ballon d'Or winner was Fabio Cannavaro.
