It's amazing to think that 2013 is already six years ago.

The world of football hasn't changed too much though with two men still at the top of the game in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

One player who can remember that fateful year as if it was yesterday is French winger Franck Ribery, the 35-year-old narrowly missed out on the Ballon d'Or finishing third despite a career-best campaign.

Ribery won almost everything he could in the 2012/13 season, picking up the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

Not to mention his impressive return of 18 goals and 20 assists in 46 games that year.

However despite a plethora of accolades, Ribery failed to pick up the most prestigious individual prize a footballer can obtain, with Ronaldo winning the award with 27.99 percent, Messi finishing runner-up with 24.72 percent and Ribery earning 23.36 percent.

"I saw myself as the Ballon d'Or. It's the truth," Ribery told L'Equipe.

"Even today, I think I deserved it. I still haven't digested it. I did everything to have it.

"I ticked all the boxes. I won all I could win with Bayern. I couldn't do better! I did a very, very, very big personal year," Ribery added.

"I had nothing to envy Ronaldo or Messi for, that year. I really took a big hit on the head. I experienced this third place as a terrible injustice.

"I asked the question 10,000 times: why not me? The more I thought, the more I was disgusted. All was not clear."

The Frenchman even went to the extent of bringing up politicking amongst people associated with football in France.

He claimed that a select group of people would have been against him winning the award regardless of personal achievement.

"For the Ballon d'Or, for example, there are team-mates and people who have power in French football who have not been in solidarity with me. I felt that these people wouldn't have been happy if I was Ballon d'Or."