Karim Benzema is the overwhelming favorite to win the boys’s Ballon d’Or at a ceremony in Paris on Monday and thereby turn into the primary Frenchman to assert essentially the most prestigious particular person prize in soccer since Zinedine Zidane nearly quarter of a century in the past.
There are 30 nominees, however the Actual Madrid striker is the excellent candidate after his outstanding performances final season helped his membership win the Champions League and La Liga.
Benzema scored an astonishing 44 targets in 46 video games for his membership together with 15 within the Champions League.
His exploits included a hat-trick in 17 second-half minutes towards Paris Saint-Germain within the final 16, and one other away to Chelsea within the quarter-final first leg. He additionally scored three extra targets over each legs of the semi-final towards Manchester Metropolis.
Benzema was named the UEFA participant of the 12 months in August, and he’s residing a marvellous twilight to his profession with the World Cup to come back.
Previously a pariah, frozen out of the France staff for 5 and a half years due to his involvement in a blackmail scandal over a sextape involving teammate Mathieu Valbuena, Benzema has put that behind him and is taking part in one of the best soccer of his profession along with his thirty fifth birthday approaching the day after the World Cup remaining.
“What’s most vital to me is to win collective trophies. In the event you do issues effectively on the sphere, particular person awards will comply with,” Benzema identified just lately.
His victory on the Chatelet Theatre within the French capital appears an inevitability.
“In the event that they don’t cancel it then he’s most likely going to win this Ballon d’Or,” mentioned Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski this week.
That was a joke by the Pole, who would absolutely have been topped in 2020 had that 12 months’s award not been cancelled because of the pandemic.
No Messi
Regular service was restored final 12 months when Lionel Messi received the Ballon d’Or for the seventh time, however he’s not even nominated this time after a disappointing season at Paris Saint-Germain.
Cristiano Ronaldo is nominated however there is no such thing as a Neymar on the listing.
Benzema apart, there are 4 different members of Actual’s Champions League-winning aspect: Vinicius, the evergreen Luka Modric, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and midfielder Casemiro, now of Manchester United.
Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Lewandowski and Kevin De Bruyne characteristic too, however Benzema stands out by a distance.
If Benzema wins, he would be the fifth Frenchman to take action, following within the footsteps of Raymond Kopa in 1958, Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Jean-Pierre Papin (1991) and Zidane (1998).
The award was beforehand primarily based on a participant’s performances over the course of the calendar 12 months.
However the format has modified, with the prize now primarily based on a participant’s document over the past season.
Putellas to retain ladies’s award?
There’s far much less certainty concerning the id of what would be the fourth ladies’s Ballon d’Or.
There are three members of England’s European Championship-winning squad short-listed among the many 20 contenders.
Lucy Bronze and Millie Vivid had been each named however Arsenal striker Beth Mead is the almost definitely candidate after scoring six targets on the Euro.
Australia’s Sam Kerr and German duo Lena Oberdorf and Alexandra Popp might have a declare too, nevertheless it may additionally as soon as once more be Spain’s Alexia Putellas, who received final 12 months.
The 28-year-old is at the moment recovering from a critical knee damage which noticed her miss the Euro with Spain and means she is unlikely to play in any respect this season.
Putellas, who adopted within the footsteps of Ada Hegerberg and Megan Rapinoe by profitable a 12 months in the past, captained Barcelona to the Champions League remaining final season in addition to a home league and cup double.
She was the Champions League prime scorer with 11 targets, though her membership misplaced the ultimate to Lyon.
The winners may even obtain digital tokens (NFTs) to go along with their gleaming trophies, whereas organisers France Soccer journal have additionally added a brand new humanitarian prize.
It’s named for Socrates, the previous Brazil midfielder who additionally held a medical diploma.
The prize “will determine one of the best social initiative by dedicated champions,” France Soccer mentioned.
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