Bidone d’Oro Nominees Announced, Serie A Stars Duck.

With December fast-approaching, The Season is in the air. Christmas? Absolutely not. It’s awards season. The Argentine sensation known as Lionel Messi has already nabbed the Onze d’Or, a precursor to the Ballon d’Or (with a heft more patriotism) which has predicted the BdO three times in the last four years. Otherwise they select a Frenchman.

And while the footballing Oscars may be comin’ round the corner, Italy is kicking off with the equivalent of Hollywood’s Razzies: the Bidone d’Oro (Golden Trash Bin). The award handed to Serie A’s worst player, often relative to expectations.

The list of losers reads…

Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio)
Nelson Dida (Milan)
Felipe Melo (Fiorentina-Juventus)
Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Milan)
Julio Baptista (Roma)
Mancini (Inter)
Christian Poulsen (Juventus)
Ricardo Quaresma (Inter)
Ronaldinho (Milan)
Tiago (Juventus)

Worth noting all of these lads at one point commanded a hefty sum and none of the above are Italian. Perhaps a subtle dig at the practice of buying big-moneyed foreigners here? Quite possibly. Especially since a few of the above have no business being nominated this year.

(RAI Radio 2 are also not big fans of Juve’s midfield, apparently.)

The past winners read a little something like this:

Three of the six (Rivaldo, Bobo & Quaresma) were big signings just that summer, while Adiano’s back-to-back “victory” prove they’re not adverse to defending champions.

With this knowledge, two candidates stick out in mind: last year’s winner Quaresma and epic disappointment Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

So either pick two substitute appearances from a man Mourinho clearly doesn’t want or the zero goals in 7 games from the man Louis van Gaal dubbed “the best player in the world, bar none, inside the penalty box”.

Come on down, Klaas.

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Category: World Football