France Football has once again awarded prizes for a reason.
It was glamorous and elegant in Paris at night. With a touch of football. The “Golden Ball” award ceremony, without changing the essential content of its owner’s choice, acquires more and more trophies and awards. Let’s find out who received awards at this elite France Football club and for what.
Raymond Cope Award
This award is named after the former France midfielder. It is awarded to the best footballer in the world who has not yet turned 22. And here there were no particular options or alternatives. This was the case when it was not so much the last season that mattered, as is usually the case with such awards, but the beginning of the new season. In this case, the choice is obvious – the 20-year-old England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham, who is now simply tearing up club football.
To clear our consciences and statistics, we will name the remaining finalists. In second place is Bayern’s German Jamal Musiala, followed by Pedri (Barcelona, Spain), Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid, France), Gavi (Barcelona, Spain), Xavi Simons (Leipzig, Holland), Alejandro Balde ( Barcelona, Spain), Antonio Silva (Benfica, Portugal), while Rasmus Hejlund (Manchester United, Denmark) and Elje Vai (Lens, France) completed the top ten.
By the way, Bellingham, in his speech during the awards ceremony, mentioned both Zinedine Zidane, whose number five he currently wears at Real Madrid, and Musiala, whom he beat in this vote:
“Jamal is a great guy. It’s so nice of him to send me a message wishing me all the best. He knows how much I love and respect him. My number five at Real Madrid is pressure. He is conscious. I wanted to experience it for myself and pay homage to one of my heroes. I had a great start at Real Madrid. Everyone in the club was happy to see me. I have confidence in my abilities and the team helps me realize them.”
Lev Yashin Prize
And if almost no one has questions with the Kopa Prize, then with the Lev Yashin Prize everything is much more complicated. This will probably make a lot of football fans explode. Because they will surely think that the approach to choosing the winner of this award turned out to be too formal. They just took the World Cup winner and made him a hero. Here, of course, it is worth recognizing that the contribution of the goalkeeper of the Argentine national team Emiliano Martinez to the success of the national team was higher, for example, than that of Lloris in the victory of France in world Cup-2018.
However, it is difficult to imagine that only a few matches, albeit very important, will become decisive for an award that seems to essentially sum up the year. After all, hardly anyone will remember Martinez’s exploits at Aston Villa, if they happened at all. Furthermore, his behavior after winning the world Cup-2022 has played rather against him from a reputational point of view. Overall, Martinez’s image as the world’s best goalkeeper of the year seems dubious. Say it out loud – you’ll be surprised at how your tongue refuses to obey.
Let’s look at who remained behind Martinez: Ederson (Manchester City, Brazil), Yassin Bounou (Al-Hilal, Morocco), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid, Belgium), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (“Barcelona, Germany ), Andre Onana (Manchester United, Cameroon), Dominic Livakovic (Fenerbahce, Croatia), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal, England), Mike Maignan (Milan, France), Brice Samba (“Lance”)
Socrates Award
The organizers diluted the intense sporting component of the Ballon d’Or with the awarding of the Socrates Prize. It is awarded to someone who has made an important contribution to humanitarian work. And here Vinicius, who became its owner, should receive his due. He formed his own foundation and an app that provides education to low-income students. Last year Vinicius invested 335 thousand euros in this activity, this year he has invested more than 1 million euros. And he will increase investment volumes.
However, in his speech during the award ceremony, Vinicius mainly touched not on the problem for which he received the award, but on another, for his overzealous fight against which he is even ridiculed by some. Speaking of racism:
We often have to deal with this. And we must all fight racism together. We must continue our fight. I want to convey this message to all the young people who admire and support us.
Gerd Müller Prize
No one here had any questions or doubts. This award was confidently taken by Erling Haaland, who broke all available records in his first season at Manchester City. During the ceremony, they decided to show a selection of all 56 of his goals, for which the Norwegian was awarded. The audience had to remain in suspense for a long time. Holland greeted the end of the video with a simple observation:
This is my job.
Then he started a conversation with Didier Drogba and Gary Lineker, who attended the awards ceremony. Drogba suggested Haaland celebrate his next goal in the style of Didier or Gary. The Norwegian agreed:
Let’s see my next goal. I like this kind of thing. When I score this goal, I will think of both of them and decide how to celebrate it.
Haaland’s goals are no longer intrigue and novelty. Now they will add an intriguing element: how will Erling score his next goal?
The best clubs in the world
In this case, the organizers’ approach turned out to be rather formal and predictable. In women’s football, Barcelona was named the best club, winning both the Spanish championship and the Champions League. It has delegated six footballers to the short list of contenders for the women’s Ballon d’Or. One of them received the award: Aitana Bonmati.
The victory was the first for the 25-year-old footballer. But quite predictable. Bonmati not only played brilliantly for Barcelona, who won major trophies, but also won the World Cup together with the Spanish national team. Here there could be no doubt. Sam Kerr, who plays for Chelsea and the Australian national team, came second. And the top three was completed by young Salma Paraluelo from Barcelona and the Spanish national team. The fourth was Fridolina Rolfo, who represents the Swedish national team and Barcelona itself. The Catalan club has three of the best players out of four.
And it was also quite logical that Manchester City, which won the treble, was recognized as the best men’s club in the world. No further explanation is particularly necessary. It can only be noted that seven of the thirty players in the running for the Ballon d’Or represented this team. But the victory did not go to one of them.
The best footballer in the world
Yes, they talked about it in advance, it was planned and it happened. Lionel Messi received his eighth Ballon d’Or and shot into the sky according to this indicator. Already from the award Martinez had understood how much the status of the World Championship was appreciated. Haaland, with his goalscoring exploits and the treble with Manchester City, was not liked so much by those who voted.
Yes, of course, disputes will continue, discussions will begin with renewed vigor. Dwight Yorke said it well:
The World Cup may only consist of seven matches, but it is football’s most important tournament. Obviously, the treble requires more coherence and stability. But the trophies it contains will always be in the shadow of the World Cup. Haaland has strong arguments on his side, but no one will question what Messi has done. Just look at what he did with Inter Miami. He turned football into the most popular sport in America. No one could have such influence. It’s difficult to see anyone other than Messi in the context of the Ballon d’Or. People said that without winning the World Cup you can’t become the greatest in history. Lionel went and got this victory. At the same time, Haaland has reason to feel offended.
Naturally, Haaland’s opponents will argue that his Norwegian team shows nothing. However, it is worth understanding the context: what kind of partner he has and what kind of partner Messi has. However, this is an age-old debate when individual awards are given in team sports.
Well, now it’s time to name those whom Messi beat in this vote. In order from second place onwards: 2. Erling Haaland, 3. Kylian Mbappe, 4. Kevin De Bruyne, 5. Rodri, 6. Vinicius, 7. Julián Alvarez, 8. Victor Osimhen, 9. Bernardo Silva, 10. Luca Modric, 11. Mohamed Salah, 12. Robert Lewandowski, 13. Yassin Bounou, 14. Ilkay Gundogan, 15. Emiliano Martinez, 16. Karim Benzema, 17. Khvicha Kvarahtzelia, 18. Jude Bellingham, 19. Harry Kane, 20. Lautaro Martinez, 21. Antoine Griezmann, 22. Kim Min Jae, 23. Andre Onana, 24. Bukayo Saka, 25. Josko Guardiol, 26. Jamal Musiala, 27. Nicolo Barella, 28-29. Martin Odegaard, 28-29. Randal Kolo Muani, 30 years old. Ruben Dias.
