Despite a stellar season in which they conceded just 26 league goals, won the La Liga title and reached the final of the Champions League, Atlético Madrid defenders Diego Godín and Miranda have both been left out of the latest shortlist for the Ballon d'Or - though former keeper Thibaut Courtois is one of two goalkeepers on the list.
Most of the reaction to the release of the 23-man shortlist has inevitably surrounded the omission of controversial Barcelona forward Luis Suárez, but the lack of an Atlético presence amongst the defenders should raise some eyebrows. LFP 'Best Defender' award-winner Sergio Ramos and Barcelona man Javier Mascherano both feature on the list, despite Ramos enduring a torrid World Cup at the heart of the Spain defence and Mascherano conceding 33 goals in a trophy-less season for Barça.
Though Miranda was imperious at the back for Atleti last season, it is perhaps his Uruguayan captain Godín who has the greater case for inclusion in the penultimate shortlist. Though Courtois and Diego Costa claimed many of the plaudits for their blistering campaign last season, Godín was the inspirational captain behind it all and he led by example when the moment most called for it.
Trailing title rivals Barça 1-0 at the Nou Camp on the final day of the season following a goal from Alexis Sánchez - whatever happened to him? - it was Godín who bulleted in the header which eventually won the league with Costa crocked on the sidelines having picked up an early hamstring injury. There was, of course, a siege on the away side's goal from that moment on but Godín marshalled his troops to keep Messi, Neymar and co. at bay to bring down the La Liga duopoly for the first time in a decade.
Just a week later, it was Godín again who looked to have sealed an historic victory in the Champions League against hated local rivals Real Madrid with another crucial goal. Despite the best efforts of a seemingly possessed Ángel di María behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, Atletico again kept their expensively-assembled opponents at bay but this time only survived until stoppage time. He could do little to stop the eventual score-line of 4-1 taking an emphatic look in the closing minutes with Diego Simeone throwing everyone forward apart from their star forward, but again it was Godín who had shown himself to be the man for the big occasion.
Godín, then, certainly has grounds to be aggrieved over his omission, and this issue is symptomatic of a sport in which defenders are vastly under-valued and forwards lauded. Ramos and Mascherano are the only defenders amongst the 23, and grounds can be found for them to be left in; Ramos was instrumental in Real's eventual capture of La Decima, while Mascherano was one of the stars of the World Cup as Argentina battled their way to the final. Some would suggest that Andrés Iniesta has been included on reputation above merit following a year of failure in terms of trophy-winning, and he did not rank inside the top ten for assist-givers in the Spanish Primera. Meanwhile, others would argue that fifth place in La Liga's top scorers chart is hardly grounds for Karim Benzema to be suggested as one of the best players in the world.
So rather than this being simply an oversight of one of the year's top performers, this is a problem which the Ballon d'Or voters must fix in the coming years. Defenders such as Mehdi Benatia, Thiago Silva and Jérôme Boateng have all been at the peak of their powers in the last year, but defensive work often goes criminally unnoticed in the modern game. It is impossible to suggest that anyone other than Ronaldo should claim the award this year, but there is no reason why a defender shouldn't be able to make the top three.