1998 – 2021. Twenty-three years already. Since December 1998 and the triumph of Zinédine Zidane, no French player has been crowned Ballon d’Or. So much for the observation. In history, French football has already experienced more extensive scarcity. Between 1958, the date of the coronation of the pioneer Raymond Kopa, crowned for his exploits in Sweden with the Blues and in Spain with Real Madrid, and the advent of Platini I in 1983, twenty-five years had passed. A quarter of a century that French football is getting dangerously close. Unless Karim Benzema grills politeness to Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) or Lionel Messi (PSG), which is still unlikely.
If the black hole crossed by French football between 1958 and 1983 could be explained quite easily, while France no longer had a world-class player in the heart of the 60’s and was only pulled by the Saint-Etienne locomotive during the 70s , years “saved” by the first podium of the young Michel Platini in 1977 under the colors of Nancy, the current series has, by far, something paradoxical.
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Since the liberalization of the market with the Bosman ruling, the best French players play in the best clubs on the planet, the French team play one in two World Cup final (1998, 2006, 2018), reached twice the final meeting at the Euro (2000 and 2016) and its stars generally do not deserve in club.
From Zinédine Zidane, who could / should have collected one more reward at the start of the 21st century, to Antoine Griezmann who would not have made an ugly Ballon d’Or in 2018, via Thierry Henry or Franck Ribéry, no one yet ‘landed the timpani in twenty-one years. All the setbacks of these Blues have their own history. Zidane (2nd) was the victim of a head butt against Hamburg in 2000 … Henry was beaten by the Eastern European countries in 2003, the very ones who preferred him and pushed Pavel very hard. Nedved. In 2006, it was the acrimonious final of the World Cup (plus another bowling ball) that kept ZZ and Titi away from the supreme individual award.
Zero lobbying, zero rewards
After that, it was only for Lionel Messi and Cristiano. Between 2008 and 2019 (note: the Ballon d’Or was not awarded last year), the two friends picked up 11 of the 12 awards awarded in the meantime. The Argentinean and the Portuguese have not only frustrated the French, that goes without saying. So ask Wesley Sneijder or Andres Iniesta… Also ask Franck Ribéry.
The Bayern winger is undoubtedly the player who has had the worst experience of missing out on an award that would not have stained his Bavarian fireplace. Considering the immense talent of Messi and Ronaldo and their weight on the game, these ended up turning the election of the player of the year into a ballot for the election of the best player in the world. And, to this question, the answer invariably became: one or the other. This was the case in the FIFA Ballon d’Or era, where coaches, players and fans also voted. It always is a little, with the only journalists once again masters on board.
The Ballon d’Or 2021, necessarily a bad vintage?
Antoine Griezmann, too, paid for a form of discretion. But also and above all of dispersion. Discretion because no media machine has started rolling for him. Zero lobbying, zero rewards. Dispersion because Griezmann was in 2018 the thinking head and the (too) muffled conductor of a team that turned the world upside down. Luka Modric, even beaten in the World Cup final, even ghostly after his return from Russia, won the Ballon d’Or. The only one since 2008 snatched from the Messi – Ronaldo duopoly. Will there be a second Monday night? Possible. Will he be French? Unlikely.
Luka Modric, Ballon d’Or 2018.
Credit: Getty Images
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