France Football today hands over the Golden Ball, to the best footballer of the 2021/22 season, which should be awarded to Karim Benzema, from Real Madrid, winner and top scorer of the Champions League and the Spanish League.
At 34, the French forward should be consecrated as the successor of Argentine Lionel Messi, after years of subalternity overshadowed by Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
Since 2019/20, with Ronaldo’s departure from the Merengues, Benzema has stood out and, last season, surpassed himself, totaling 44 goals in the madridista emblem’s successful campaigns in LaLiga, the ‘Champions’ and the European Super Cup. .
He also regained prominence in the French team, winner of the League of Nations, succeeding Portugal, after practically six years without wearing the ‘bleus’ jersey, for his alleged involvement in an attempt to blackmail Valbuena.
Messi lifted the trophy in 2021, 2019 and 2009, when it was solely the responsibility of France Football, and in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015, in an association 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 play for Liverpool after of having lined up for FC Porto and Benfica, respectively.
Benzema’s brilliant and victorious season leaves little doubt about his election, relegating the presence of the Portuguese to a secondary role, even if it is the 18th nomination of 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 matches in his return season to Manchester United, but failed to achieve any collective title, while Bernardo Silva and João Cancelo regained the Premier League and Rafael Leão led AC Milan to the scepter. Italian, brightening the feat with the election of best player in Serie A.
In addition to Benzema, European champions Real Madrid are represented by four other players, such as Casemiro, who joined Manchester United, Luka Modrić, Thibaut Courtois and Vinícius Júnior.
Robert Lewandowski, now at FC Barcelona, stands out on the list as the top scorer of the ‘Old Continent’ national championships in 2021/22, with 35 goals in 34 Bundesliga rounds by the German champion Bayern Munich.
The successor of the Argentine ‘star’ will be announced at the ceremony for the delivery of the 66th Ballon d’Or, with new evaluation criteria, which will, for the first time, take into account the sporting season instead of the calendar year.
This paradigm will also focus on the women’s award, started in 2018 and won in 2021 by Spanish Alexia Putellas, one of the 20 finalists announced for 2022, along with five continental champions of clubs with Lyon and three of national teams with England.
The same durability has the Raymond Kopa Trophy, destined for the best under-21 footballer, in which the defender Nuno Mendes, who left Sporting for Paris Saint-Germain, is nominated for the second consecutive edition, after the success of the Spaniard Pedri (FC Barcelona ).
Also today, the Lev Yashin Trophy will be awarded, which has recognized the world’s best goalkeeper since 2019 and was won in 2021 by the Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain), this time out of the 10 chosen, unlike the Slovenian Jan Oblak ( Atlético de Madrid) and the Brazilian Ederson (Manchester City).
Since the creation of the Golden Ball in 1956, the Portuguese Eusébio (1965, with Benfica), Luís Figo (2000, with the Spanish team of Real Madrid) and Cristiano Ronaldo (one with the English team of Manchester United and four for the Real Madrid).
