QPR midfielder gets nominated for Ballon d’Or, admits “it’s a bit random”

Massimo Luongo... Do you think he deserves the Ballon d'Or?

Someone does because the Australia and QPR player is on the leaked longlist of 59 players up for the prestigious award this year. You've probably never heard of him though and the realistic Luongo is just as befuddled as to how his unfamiliar name cropped up among the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Manuel Neuer. "I didn’t even know if it was real ... I thought it was someone trying to be funny," he told The Guardian. "It’s obviously a big honour, not many people get on it, I can say I’ve been on the Ballon d’Or list now. I don’t know what to say about it ... it’s a bit random." It's been seven years since we last saw someone other than Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi claim the prize so we wouldn't hold out much hope of former Swindon Town hero Luongo upsetting the odds. "Boys joke about it with me, the boys are taking the piss a little bit, I do myself as well," Luongo added. "If it was something like a big move or something, the media attention would play on my mind a little bit but this [doesn’t affect me] maybe because I’ve got no chance of winning it." Having said that, David Ospina is also on the longlist so he may not be the biggest outsider.