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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Will Unwin

A Ballon d’Or shindig-shaped hole in the diaries of Messi and Ronaldo

A worker makes a replica of the World Cup trophy with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo models made from sweets at a confectionery shop in Kolkata.
Sweet work, earlier. Photograph: Sudipta Das/Pacific Press/Shutterstock

END OF AN ERA?

On Wednesday, France Football announced their shortlists for this year’s Ballon d’Or but they cruelly omitted Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi from the men’s lineup, as neither appeared alongside the likes of former Charlton winger Ademola Lookman, one-time Leyton Orient loanee Harry Kane and ex-Rotherham goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez. Instead, for the first time since 2003, CR7 and Messi are wondering what to do with an empty diary when October’s shindig comes around.

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