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Ballon d'Or: Twitter reacts to Roy Hodgson selecting Eden Hazard as third best player of 2015

The England manager's selections have been ridiculed on social media again

Mark Critchley
Monday 11 January 2016 20:43 GMT
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England manager Roy Hodgson
England manager Roy Hodgson (England manager Roy Hodgson)

Lionel Messi won his fifth Ballon d'Or on Monday night, seeing off competition from team-mate Neymar and old rival Cristiano Ronaldo to be crowned the best player of 2015.

The real fun, however, comes when we find out how the captain, coach and one journalist from each nation voted.

Last year, England manager Roy Hodgson was roundly mocked for naming Javier Mascherano as his player of the year, much to the amusement of many on the internet.

This year, his selections will be received a bit better, but his selection of Eden Hazard has left quite a few people scratching their heads.

Who did Roy Hodgson vote for?

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina)

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal)

3. Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Belgium)

Hazard, who was superb for Chelsea during their canter to the Premier League title last season, has seen his form drop considerably this term.

The Belgian international, who picked up both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the Football Writer's Player of the Year Award in May, has not scored for his club in 2015/16 and has since been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.

The reaction to Roy Hodgson selecting Eden Hazard...

What about Wayne Rooney? Well, his selections also differed from the overall vote.

The Manchester United striker plumped for Lionel Messi, Thomas Muller and old team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, in that order.

Ronaldo himself also got to vote, as did Messi, in their capacities as Portugal and Argentina captains respectively. Unsurprisingly, they did not vote for each other and both gave all three of their nominations to club team-mates.

The Barcelona player went for Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta, while the Real Madrid man chose Karim Benzema, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale.

You can see all the selections, including those from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, here.

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