Benzema expected to win Ballon d'Or
PARIS: Karim Benzema is the overwhelming favourite to win the men's Ballon d'Or at a ceremony in Paris on Monday and thereby become the first Frenchman to claim the most prestigious individual prize in football since Zinedine Zidane almost quarter of a century ago. There are 30 nominees, but the Real Madrid striker is the outstanding candidate after his remarkable performances last season helped his club win the Champions League and La Liga. Benzema scored an astonishing 44 goals in 46 games for his club including 15 in the Champions League. His exploits included a hat-trick in 17 second-half minutes against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16, and another away to Chelsea in the quarter-final first leg. He also scored three more goals over both legs of the semi-final against Manchester City. Benzema was named the UEFA player of the year in August, and he is living a marvellous twilight to his career with the World Cup to come. Formerly a pariah, frozen out of the France team for five and a half years because of his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sextape involving teammate Mathieu Valbuena, Benzema has put that behind him and is playing the best football of his career with his 35th birthday approaching the day after the World Cup final. "What is most important to me is to win collective trophies. If you do things well on the field, individual awards will follow," Benzema pointed out recently. His victory at the Chatelet Theatre in the French capital seems an inevitability. "If they don't cancel it then he's probably going to win this Ballon d'Or," said Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski this week. That was a joke by the Pole, who would surely have been crowned in 2020 had that year's award not been cancelled due to the pandemic. Normal service was restored last year when Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or for the seventh time, but he is not even nominated this time after a disappointing season at Paris Saint-Germain. Cristiano Ronaldo is nominated but there is no Neymar on the list.
Benzema aside, there are four other members of Real's Champions League-winning side: Vinicius, the evergreen Luka Modric, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and midfielder Casemiro, now of Manchester United.
Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Lewandowski and Kevin De Bruyne feature too, but Benzema stands out by a distance.
If Benzema wins, he will be the fifth Frenchman to do so, following in the footsteps of Raymond Kopa in 1958, Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991) and Zidane (1998).
The award was previously based on a player's performances over the course of the calendar year.
But the format has changed, with the prize now based on a player's record over the last season.
There is far less certainty about the identity of what will be the fourth women's Ballon d'Or.
There are three members of England's European Championship-winning squad short-listed among the 20 contenders.
Lucy Bronze and Millie Bright were both named but Arsenal striker Beth Mead is the most likely candidate after scoring six goals at the Euro.
Australia's Sam Kerr and German duo Lena Oberdorf and Alexandra Popp may have a claim too, but it could also once again be Spain's Alexia Putellas, who won last year.
The 28-year-old is currently recovering from a serious knee injury which saw her miss the Euro with Spain and means she is unlikely to play at all this season.
Putellas, who followed in the footsteps of Ada Hegerberg and Megan Rapinoe by winning a year ago, captained Barcelona to the Champions League final last season as well as a domestic league and cup double.
She was the Champions League top scorer with 11 goals, although her club lost the final to Lyon.
The winners will also receive digital tokens (NFTs) to go with their gleaming trophies, while organisers France Football magazine have also added a new humanitarian prize.
It is named for Socrates, the former Brazil midfielder who also held a medical degree.
The prize "will identify the best social initiative by committed champions," France Football said.
- 最近发表
-
- 'Terminator Zero' creators find fresh life in sci
- North Korean leader congratulates Putin on inauguration
- 雨城区中里镇群众 以共享理念发展乡村旅游
- PPP vows 'most lethal' response to North Korea's Kim family over balloon controversy
- Listeners encouraged to go wild with Le Sserafim's 4th EP
- Works begin at Dogger Bank, the world's largest off
- 中医专家支招秋季防病
- 坚持法治信仰 做担当司法人
- DNC 2024 speech: Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have a superpower no other Democrat has.
- Chinese spy plane enters S. Korea's air defense zone
- 随机阅读
-
- World's first green ammonia plant is now open for business
- The most innovative battery designs of the year
- Trump’s visa ban will make it harder to fight ISIS, generals say.
- Windows 10 is adding an 'Ultimate Performance' mode for high
- Cicadas love to land on people. Experts explain why.
- PPP vows 'most lethal' response to North Korea's Kim family over balloon controversy
- North Korea condemns UN members' sanctions enforcement as 'provocations'
- This Chrome extension brings 'View Image' back to Google Search
- Unionized hospital workers pull out from strike
- Wales manager Ryan Giggs arrested: reports
- Chelsea's Havertz tests positive for coronavirus
- Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller’s Muslim ban is about white nationalism.
- Aricell CEO arrested in first case under industrial accidents law
- PPP vows 'most lethal' response to North Korea's Kim family over balloon controversy
- 雨城区中里镇群众 以共享理念发展乡村旅游
- Facebook is hiring a managing editor and Creative Shop content editor
- 11 Telescopes Exploring The Magic of Space
- Feud between justice minister and prosecutor general subsides
- In summit call, S. Korea, Turkey agree on closer economic ties, coronavirus cooperation
- Wales manager Ryan Giggs arrested: reports
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-