France Football delivers this Monday the Golden Ball to the best footballer of the 2021/22 season, which should go to Karim Benzema, from Real Madrid, winner and top scorer of the Champions League and the Spanish League.
At 34 years old, the French striker should consecrate himself as the successor of the Argentine Lionel Messi, after years of subordination overshadowed by the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
Since 2019/20, with the departure of Ronaldo from the merengues, Benzema has stood out and, last season, he surpassed himself, adding 44 goals in the successful campaigns of the Madridista emblem in LaLiga, the ‘Champions’ and the Super Cup of Europe.
He also regained prominence in the French team, winner of the League of Nations, succeeding Portugal, after practically six years without wearing the ‘bleus’ shirt, for his alleged involvement in an attempt to blackmail Valbuena.
Messi lifted the trophy in 2021, 2019 and 2009, when it was the sole responsibility of France Football, and in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, in a partnership between the French magazine and FIFA, but he is not among the 30 nominees for the first time since 2005.
Among the 30 finalists, Cristiano Ronaldo, from Manchester United, Bernardo Silva and João Cancelo, both from Manchester City, and Rafael Leão, from AC Milan, as well as Luís Díaz and Darwin Nuñez, who plays for Liverpool after having been part of FC Porto and Benfica, respectively.
Benzema’s brilliant and victorious season leaves little doubt about his election, relegating the Portuguese’s presence to the background, even though it is the 18th nomination for Ronaldo, five-time winner of the award (2008, 2013, 2014, 2016). and 2017).
The Portuguese captain scored 24 goals and scored three goals in 38 games in his season back at Manchester United, but failed to win any collective title, while Bernardo Silva and João Cancelo regained the Premier League and Rafael Leão led AC Milan to the title Italian. , highlighting the feat with the election of the best player in Serie A.
In addition to Benzema, European champions Real Madrid are represented by four other players, including Casemiro, who joined Manchester United, Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois and Vinícius Júnior.
Robert Lewandowski, now at FC Barcelona, stands out on the list as the top scorer in the national championships of the ‘Old Continent’ in the 2021/22 season, with 35 goals in 34 games in the Bundesliga of the German champion Bayern Munich.
The successor of the Argentine ‘star’ will be announced at the award ceremony for the 66th Ballon d’Or, with new evaluation criteria, which will take into account, in an unprecedented way, the sports season instead of the calendar year.
This paradigm will also focus on the women’s award, which began in 2018 and was won in 2021 by the Spanish Alexia Putellas, one of the 20 finalists announced for 2022, along with five continental club champions with Lyon and three national team champions with England.
Equally durable is the Raymond Kopa Trophy, destined for the best under-21 footballer, in which defender Nuno Mendes, who left Sporting for Paris Saint-Germain, is nominated for the second consecutive edition, after the success of the Spanish Pedri ( FC Barcelona).
Also today the Lev Yashin Trophy will be awarded, which recognizes the best goalkeeper in the world since 2019 and was won in 2021 by the Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), this time outside the 10 chosen, unlike the Slovenian Jan Oblak. (Atletico de Madrid) and the Brazilian Ederson (Manchester City).
Since the creation of Bola de Ouro, in 1956, the Portuguese Eusébio (1965, at Benfica’s service), Luís Figo (2000, as Spaniards at Real Madrid) and Cristiano Ronaldo (an Englishman at Manchester United and four Real Madrid).
Source: TSF
