BALLON D'OR
Ronaldo slumps to lowest Ballon d’Or ranking since 2005
Manchester United forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been ranked 20th in the Ballon d’Or, marking his lowest placing in 17 years.
The five-time winner of the prestigious award has endured a difficult start to the season at Old Trafford.
Ronaldo was demoted to the bench in five of the opening six games under new manager Erik ten Hag. The Portugal international was also on the sidelines for the entirety of United’s recent 6-3 collapse against Manchester City.
Since then, the 37-year-old has started in four successive games, with the Red Devils picking up three victories.
With regards to goals, Ronaldo has scored two so far this term. Last season, the Portuguese forward was United’s top scorer with 24 across all competitions.
Ronaldo’s hopes of winning another France Football crown look increasingly slim. With the player in his late 30s and his current side struggling to make much of an impact, his chance of a sixth title may be beyond him.
The five-time Champions League winner was linked with a move away from Old Trafford in the summer, though a transfer never materialised.
The player last finished 20th in the Ballon d’Or back in 2005. On that occasion, he finished level with current Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.
That year, it was Ronaldinho who took the spoils, with Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard making up the podium.
In recent times, Harry Kane has represented England’s best hope in the annual award. However, this year, the Tottenham forward finished 21st – two spots higher than the year prior.
Kane has been in good goalscoring form lately, bagging five goals in his last six outings for Spurs. The forward has found the back of the net on nine occasions in the Premier League this season. In fact, only Erling Haaland has scored more league goals than Kane this term.
The 29-year-old is also just three goals away from equalling Wayne Rooney on England’s all-time top scorer list.
Kane, who has 51 international goals to his name, could break the record at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Tottenham man is expected to lead the line as Gareth Southgate’s men take on Iran, Wales and the United States in the group stage
England captain Harry Kane sees a real chance of winning the next Ballon d’Or award for the best player in the world but knows securing silverware with Bayern Munich would be key to fulfilling that dream.
The 31-year-old striker, England’s all-time leading goalscorer, has scored 32 goals and provided 11 assists in 37 appearances across all competitions this season for Bayern, helping the German giants top the Bundesliga table and book a place in the Champions League quarter-finals.
While no English player has won the Ballon d’Or since former Liverpool striker Michael Owen in 2001, Kane believes his chance of winning soccer’s top individual award has been boosted by his August 2023 move from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern.
“Just being at a club like Bayern Munich has helped push me on even more, confidence-wise and responsibility-wise,” Kane told reporters ahead of Friday’s FIFA World Cup European qualifier against Albania.
“I feel like I’ve definitely got better, I’ve improved, and maybe the ‘aura’ of me as a player is a bit more respected than what it has been in the past, because you’re playing in big games, big nights.
“That’s probably what I mean in terms of being respected more worldwide, on the bigger stage. For something like that, you have to win enough team trophies to be considered in that and probably score 40-odd goals, but that is a possibility this season.”
Kane said his goal-scoring feats are not always appreciated but he remains motivated as ever.
“It’s like when (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Lionel) Messi were throwing these crazy numbers out there and the next season they’d score 40 goals instead of 50. It was like they were having a bad season,” Kane said.
“People take it for granted and maybe a little bit with England as well. I’ve scored 69 goals and when you score against Albania or Latvia, or these teams, people just expect it so it’s not spoken about so much.
“If I was 25 now and doing what I’m doing, the excitement around me would maybe be a little bit different to what it is now. That’s part of where we are with football … Maybe people just get a little bit bored of what you do, but I’m certainly not bored. I’m excited for these games and the games ahead.”
-Reuters
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A member of the Ballon d’Or panel has admitted he forgot to vote for Vinicius Jr.
His error contributed to the loss by the more popular Vinicius who was edged by Manchester City’s Rodrigo Hernandez.
For his error, the journalist Juha Kanerva, who works for a publication in Finland, Ilta-Sanomat, has resigned.
Kanerva failed to include Vinicius in his top ten despite the winger enjoying a stellar year in which he helped Real Madrid win the UEFA Champions League.
According to UK publication, Daily Mail, a Real Madrid fan pointed out that Kanerva was one of only three journalists not to include Vinicius in his top ten.
He wrote: ‘This was my technical fault, for which I take responsibility. I am leaving my place as Ballon d’Or selector.’
According to France Football, the other two journalists that didn’t include Vinicius in their top ten were Bruno Porzio of El Salvador and Sheefeni Nikodemus from Namibia.
Journalists from 99 different countries submitted votes, with Syria abstaining from doing so.
As reported by Marca, Kanerva chose Rodri as his Ballon d’Or winner followed by Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham.
William Saliba, Ademola Lookman and Dani Carvajal were amongst the players that were included in his top ten.
Vinicius was absent from the ceremony in Paris after being informed that he wouldn’t win, with his Real Madrid team-mates also snubbing the event.
These were the votes given by the Finnish journalist for the 2024 Ballon d’Or:
- Rodrigo Hernandez: 15 points
- Erling Haaland: 12 points
- Jude Bellingham: 10 points
- Toni Kroos: 8 points
- Florian Wirtz: 7 points
- Declan Rice: 5 points
- Lamine Yamal: 4 points
- William Saliba: 3 points
- Ademola Lookman: 2 points
- Dani Carvajal: 1 point
List of Ballon d’Or winners since the award’s inception in 1956 after Rodri was named 2024 winner on Monday.
1956 – Stanley Matthews (England)
1957 – Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)
1958 – Raymond Kopa (France)
1959 – Alfredo Di Stefano (Spain)
1960 – Luis Suarez (Spain)
1961 – Omar Sivori (Italy)
1962 – Josef Masopust (Czechoslovakia)
1963 – Lev Yashin (Soviet Union)
1964 – Denis Law (Scotland)
1965 – Eusebio (Portugal)
1966 – Bobby Charlton (England)
1967 – Florian Albert (Hungary)
1968 – George Best (Northern Ireland)
1969 – Gianni Rivera (Italy)
1970 – Gerd Mueller (West Germany)
1971 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1972 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1973 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1974 – Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
1975 – Oleg Blokhin (Soviet Union)
1976 – Franz Beckenbauer (West Germany)
1977 – Allan Simonsen (Denmark)
1978 – Kevin Keegan (England)
1979 – Kevin Keegan (England)
1980 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)
1981 – Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany)
1982 – Paolo Rossi (Italy)
1983 – Michel Platini (France)
1984 – Michel Platini (France)
1985 – Michel Platini (France)
1986 – Igor Belanov (Soviet Union)
1987 – Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
1988 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1989 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1990 – Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
1991 – Jean-Pierre Papin (France)
1992 – Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
1993 – Roberto Baggio (Italy)
1994 – Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
1995 – George Weah (Liberia)
1996 – Matthias Sammer (Germany)
1997 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
1998 – Zinedine Zidane (France)
1999 – Rivaldo (Brazil)
2000 – Luis Figo (Portugal)
2001 – Michael Owen (England)
2002 – Ronaldo (Brazil)
2003 – Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
2004 – Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
2005 – Ronaldinho (Brazil)
2006 – Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
2007 – Kaka (Brazil)
2008 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2009 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2010 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2011 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2012 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2013 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *
2014 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) *
2015 – Lionel Messi (Argentina) *
2016 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2017 – Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
2018 – Luka Modric (Croatia)
2019 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2020 – Award Cancelled (COVID-19 pandemic)
2021 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2022 – Karim Benzema (France)
2023 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2024 – Rodri (Spain)
* From 2010-2015 the Ballon d’Or was merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year to create the FIFA Ballon d’Or award.
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