After finishing as the top scorer at Euro 2008 , Villa continued his form into the 2008 – 09 season , where he scored the first goal in a 3 – 0 win against Mallorca in what was the opening game of the season . After failing to sign the player , Real Madrid 's manager at the time , Bernd Schuster , accused Villa of having " no ambition " , whereupon Villa responded by saying , " Footballing ambition is not about your mouth , it is about your feet . You can accuse me of lots of things – of having a bad day , of missing chances , of many things – but I have always had ambition and always will have . I think I have proved that on the pitch with Zaragoza , Sporting , UD Langreo , and the national team . " In October 2008 , Kaká praised Villa : speaking to Canal , he claimed that Villa is " the best Spanish footballer " adding that , " The player with whom I would most like to play is David Villa of Valencia . " On 2 December 2008 , Villa came seventh in the 2008 Ballon d'Or rankings and on 12 January 2009 , he was announced as the joint ninth-best player of 2008 alongside international teammate Andrés Iniesta of Barcelona , according to the 2008 FIFA World Player of the Year awards
2008 Ballon d'Or
2008 Ballon d'Or
David Villa