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| SUNDAY • 3 JUNE 2018 maltatoday 30 SPORTS WORLD CUP Golden Ball contenders Neymar Jr – 8/1 Neymar is facing a race to be fit for Brazil's opener against Switzerland and even if he does recover in time he will not have played a competitive match since suffering a broken metatarsal in February. Brazil have been heavily reliant on Neymar for the past five years but now boast a squad of players worthy of wear- ing the famous Samba shirt. Stars such as Willian, Gabriel Jesus, Roberto Firmi- no, and Philippe Coutinho outline their shift away from being reliant on the PSG frontman. Joint-favouritism for the Golden Ball Award may be an overestimation of the role Neymar will play after his injury problems and better value can be found elsewhere. Antoine Griezmann – 16/1 Transfer talk surrounding the Atletico Madrid frontman has been relentless in recent seasons with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona all linked with securing Griezmann's signature. The Frenchman scored 29 goals in all competitions this season, helping Atletico to second place in La Liga and to the Europa League title. The only season in which he scored more goals was in 2015/16 – the year he was voted Player of the Tournament at Euro 2016. With France's starting forward as yet undetermined, it is possible that Griez- mann could lead the line for Les Bleus. It is also worth noting that he will be on penalty duty, which could add an extra goal or two to his final tally, putting him firmly in contention. Cristiano Ronaldo – 16/1 Instrumental in Portugal's Euro 2016 triumph despite leaving the field injured early in the first half of the final, Ron- aldo may have been up for Manager of the Tournament following his antics on the sidelines. In what is likely to be his last World Cup, Portugal's talisman will be just as determined to collect a personal acco- lade as a team one. The trouble Ronaldo is facing is that, while he has support from the likes of Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and AC Milan's promising youngster An- dre Silva, the Portugal team is suffering from a severe lack of quality. If Ronaldo is going to justify his price of 16/1, he is going to have to have one mighty tour- nament. Gabriel Jesus – 20/1 Since his retirement in 2011, Brazil have been left with a Ronaldo-shaped hole that they have yet to fill. The Phenomenon really was just that and the likes of Adriano, Fred and Julio Baptista were, in all honesty, never really fit to lace his boots. Although he is not a striker in the mould of Ronaldo, in Ga- briel Jesus, Brazil believe they may have found the answer to all their problems. For all their technical and exciting foot- ballers, they have been crying out for a player to link play and score goals. More than a clinical poacher but also more than a Robinho-esque show pony. If things click in Russia the Brazil for- ward could very easily be walking away with both the Golden Boot and the Gold- en Ball. Hundreds of players will line up in Russia for the 2018 World Cup Finals and we take a look at who will be crowned the best of the lot and take home the coveted Golden Ball Lionel Messi – 8/1 odds Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi was the somewhat unexpected recipient of the Golden Ball award in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Despite scoring four goals in the group stage, Messi did not score a goal in the knockout stages. After losing to Germany in the final, the Argentine looked slightly embarrassed when collecting the award. This season has been considered a somewhat re- served one by Messi's standards, but the truth is he has still finished ahead of Mohamed Salah and Cristiano Ronaldo as Europe's top scorer. Such is the little man's brilliance we are no longer blown away by a season in which he has scored 45 goals in 54 games. No player has ever won two Golden Ball Awards and Messi may have to guide Argentina one step further than four years ago in order to be crowned the tournament's best player.