This time there will be no dress and no smiles. Lionel Messi has been excluded from the list of candidates for the 2022 Ballon d’Or.
And one day the seemingly impossible happened. Leone Messithe best footballer of the last two decades and perhaps the best in history, does not appear among the 30 candidates to win the Ballon d’Or, the traditional award that the French sports magazine France Football will deliver on October 17 in Paris.
Messi, who last year won the award for his performance as leader of the Argentine national team in Copa América, has seven Ballon d’Ors (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021) in the windows of the House. And he hasn’t been missing from the list of candidates since 2005.
In a weak season with PSG, the Rosario star was not chosen by specialist journalists. Neither is Brazilian Neymar, who also did not shine in the almighty French team. If Kylian Mbappé appears, his companion in the offensive trident of the club from the French capital. And Cristiano Ronaldo also appears, beyond his poor performance in the last season with Manchester United.
The chosen ones
Considered the favorite to win the 2022 Ballon d’Or, France’s Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) is among the 30 nominees for that award which will be awarded by France Football magazine.
In the third batch of candidates, where Benzema’s name appeared, the Brazilian Casemiro (Real Madrid) also stands out. Along with the midfielder were also Brazilian Fabinho (Liverpool), South Korean Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Algerian Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City).
Benzema, 34, is the clear favorite to succeed Leo Messi in the award for both individual statistics (he is already the second best scorer in the history of Real Madrid) and collective statistics (winner of the Champions League, among other trophies ). .
In the other rounds, the Brazilian Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid), the Colombian Luis Díaz (Liverpool), the Polish Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), the Portuguese Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) and the English Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool).
Also the Belgian Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), the Portuguese Rafael Leao (Milan), the German Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), the French Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) and the Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool).
In turn, the entry of the Uruguayan Darwin Núñez (who moved from Benfica to Liverpool in this market), the Senegalese Sadio Mané (from Liverpool to Bayern Munich), the French goalkeeper Mike Maignan (Milan) and the English Harry Kane ( Tottenham). and Phil Foden (Manchester City),
The names of Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo (five times Golden Ball), Croatian Luka Modric of Real Madrid (Golden Ball in 2018) and Belgian Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) joined in the fifth round. They were joined by new German Real Madrid defender Antonio Rudiger and Ivory Coast striker Sébastien Haller, who moved from Ajax to Borussia Dortmund.
News in development
Source: Clarin
