Tonight, France Football magazine awarded the world’s most prestigious individual award: the Ballon d’Or, which recognizes the best male and female footballers of the year. A ceremony that takes place in the Châtelet, a Parisian theater located in the first district of the capital where the great stars of this sport will meet. Benzema appears as a good candidate for the throne, which is currently owned by Messi. Alexia Putellas, icon of Barcelona, is aims to confirm himself at the top and prove himself number one again.
The secrecy with which the organization moves until the last moment, as well as the secrecy of all the main characters due to the signed confidentiality clause, does not prevent us from talking about Benzema as the favorite to win his first Ballon d’Or. After a brilliant 2022 with Real Madrid, where he won the Liga and a Champions League remembered for a series of miracles, the margin for doubt is narrow.
In this sense, there will be a good institutional representation of the white club. Florentino Pérez, Emilio Butragueño and José Ángel Sánchez will travel to Paris today to join Benzema in a gala where Real Madrid want to boast of having the best in their dressing room: “Real has always known how to -organize campaigns to win the Ballon d’O ”, Efe assured the director of France Football, Pascal Ferré, at the end of last week.
And from the king, to the queen. Although in this case the prognosis is somewhat uncertain, Alexia Putellas has many possibilities to revalidate the award she already won in the last edition. The Barça captain, injured after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, was left out of the European Championship with Spain but signed another season to frame Barça, which was only marred by a painful defeat in Champions League finals against Lyon.
His teammates Aitana Bonmatí, Fridolina Rolfö, Asisat Oshoala and Lucy Bronze, who were also nominated, were at the Châtelet Theater in another special night for Jonatan Giráldez’s group. Everything indicates at the moment that Alexia Putellas will win, even if her main competition for the Ballon d’Or is Arsenal’s Beth Mead. He was named the best footballer of the last European Championship after scoring six goals and providing five assists, numbers that led England to victory.
A gala with a blaugrana tint
As it happened last year, it is expected that the gala will be tainted by Barça with the Kopa Trophy, which recognizes the best soccer player under 21 years of age. In 2021 it was taken by a plethoric Pedri, accompanied by Joan Laporta in Paris. This time the president of Barça will travel to the French capital with Gavi, the main favorite to replace his partner after a brilliant 2022 in which he not only lived in the Camp Nou, but also in the national team.
It is an award given every four years, and bears the name of the first Ballon d’Or winner, French footballer Raymond Kopa. The first to raise it was Mbappé, in 2018. The following year it was De Ligt. In 2020, due to the pandemic, the ceremony was canceled. The last promise is Pedri, who hopes to give the leading role to a Gavi competing with Camavinga, another of the candidates to win the award. The remaining nominees are Adeyemi, Bellingham, Gravenberch, Nuno Mendes, Musiala, Gvardiol, Saka and Wirtz.
The Müller Trophy, for Lewandowski
France Football owes Lewandowski a debt. In 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, it was decided to cancel that edition which, if it had been held, would have been signed by the Polish international as the best football player in the world after winning the Champions League with Bayern. Two years later, the Gerd Müller Trophy was created, recognizing the top scorer of the previous season between club and national team. Lewandowski, 57 in total, will take to the stage to celebrate being the most effective striker on the planet.
Source: La Verdad
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