Pakistan coach votes for Arjen Robben, Scott Brown omits Lionel Messi from top three

ByEurosport

Updated 12/01/2016 at 11:39 GMT

Although Lionel Messi was the clear winner in the Ballon d’Or, with 41.33 per cent of the vote, the result may have come as a surprise to the Pakistan coach.

Basheer Al Shamlan Mohammad Shamlan Mubarak thought that Arjen Robben – the Dutch winger blighted by injury for much of the year – was the outstanding player, followed by Karim Benzema and then Cristiano Ronaldo.

Another bizarre selection was Barcelona and Argentina defender Javier Mascherano, who received 11 votes - five of which listed him first. Strangely, two of his first-place votes came from the captain and manager of Guatemala.

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Scotland captain Scott Brown will also have been shocked. He omitted Messi from his list entirely – opting for Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland), Ronaldo and then Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/Germany).

Robert Lewandowski

Image credit: AFP

The Ballon d’Or is voted for by 165 national coaches and 162 national team captains plus 171 media representatives - one from each country.

After Messi, Ronaldo took 27.76 per cent of the vote, with Brazil and Barcelona forward Neymar picking up 7.86 per cent.

Scott Brown tackles Neymar (Reuters)

Image credit: Reuters

The breakdown also revealed tactical voting. Messi, eligible to vote as Argentina captain, named Barcelona team-mates Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta as his top three.

Portugal captain Ronaldo chose three Real Madrid team-mates – Benzema, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale.

Indeed, every Barcelona and Real Madrid player that also captains an international side only voted for team-mates.

Gareth Bale's hit a hat-trick to dispel any rumours of his discontent in Madrid

Image credit: PA Sport

Belgium captain Vincent Kompany opted for his compatriots Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne as his top two, while Peru's captain Claudio Pizarro voted for fellow former Bayern players Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller and Toni Kroos.

Yaya Toure? Well, he received 18 votes with 14 of those coming from voters representing African nations.

But the most surprising revelation from the list of voters and their forms? Guinea captain Florentin Pogba did not vote for his brother Paul at Juventus.

As for those who were not involved in the process, Spain captain Iker Casillas – the former Real Madrid goalkeeper, who now plays for Portuguese club Porto – was among those who did not vote.

[RELATED: Conte, Buffon ‘snub Ballon d’Or voting’ over keeper’s exclusion]

Casillas had a vote as Spain captain but reportedly didn’t use it. This was apparently due to an administrative error on the part of the Spanish federation.

Meanwhile, Italy coach Antonio Conte and captain Gianluigi Buffon opted against voting altogether after the goalkeeper was omitted from the longlist for the award, according to reports.

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