Each year, they challenge, make people react. The votes of the 180 journalists of the Ballon d’Or were unveiled this Saturday in the last issue of France Football, five days after the ceremony which crowned Lionel Messi for the seventh time, at the Châtelet theater in Paris.
Mount 2e, Sterling également
No Robert Lewandowski or Karim Benzema in the Uzbek journalist’s top 5, who places Giorgio Chiellini fourth and the Englishman Mason Mount second, just behind Kylian Mbappé (his top 5 in order: Mbappé, Mount, Messi, Chiellini, De Bruyne). The performance of the Three Lions at the Euro was obviously also appreciated in El Salvador and Liechtenstein, who chose to attribute the second position to Raheem Sterling, more really essential to Manchester City. In Kyrgyzstan, it was that of the Italian European champion that was highlighted, since Leonardo Bonucci is placed in 4th position.
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Surprising votes
Vote at the very least surprising also of the journalist from Bhutan, who placed neither Messi, nor Lewandowski and not even Jorginho, on the podium of the final classification, in his top 5. For him, Mohamed Salah should have been crowned, in front of N ‘Golo Kanté, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Benzema. Better, the Cameroonian journalist did not choose any of the top five. His top 5: Mbappé, Salah, De Bruyne, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The journalist from Guatemala places Chiellini, Lautaro Martinez and Nicolo Barella respectively in 3rd, 4th and 5th positions. The Brazilian judge de Bruyne should have won the Ballon d’Or, with Neymar in 5th place. He does not put Messi or Lewandowski, the two big favorites, in his top 5.
The New Zealand journalist has his eye
Some people vote, however, make more sense. OFC TV’s New Zealand journalist Gordon Watson even found the quinté in the right order for the second edition in a row. Never two without three ? Response in 2022.
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