What were you doing on December 21, 2003? Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were sitting comfortably on their sofas watching Pavel Nedved lift the Ballon d’Or. They had probably promised themselves that they would be part of the world’s elite for many years and have managed to win the most prestigious individual trophy eight and five times respectively. After devouring everything, the Argentinian and the Portuguese can live out their days in peace, one in the United States and the other in Saudi Arabia, and are not included in the list of thirty players nominated this year, a first in 21 years.
New faces…
Even though during this hegemony, Luka Modrić and Karim Benzema had the chance to write their names on the prize list, the results were less and less interesting, as when The Flea was running for the title in 2023 amid general incomprehension and indifference, with some almost forgetting that Argentina had won the World Cup a few months earlier. This year, the Copa América added to its immense trophy cabinet was not even enough to convince voters. Finally!
They preferred to honor some faces much less known to the general public. They play at Bayer Leverkusen, Girona or even Atalanta Bergamo and here they are propelled among the thirty best players of the year. If the presences of Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka and Alejandro Grimaldo are not big surprises given the great media coverage that the German champion team has benefited from, those of Artem Dovbyk and Ademola Lookman are more surprising, but they do a lot of good to this award that was starting to gather dust in recent years. Among the players who have had XXL seasons in less posh teams on the old continent, Serhou Guirassy or Pierre Lees-Melou did not pass the cut. It also recalls what the Ballon d’Or is, in essence: the photograph of a season (a year for the old editions) and nothing more.
…And some notable absentees
The reason that can explain the presence of these newcomers is the change in the number of votes granted to the members of the jury. Indeed, the hundred journalists were able to slip in ten names and not five as in the past. Thus, after having honored Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappé, Rodri, Vinicius and Erling Haaland, some were able to treat themselves by voting for Hakan Çalhanoğlu or Nico Williams. “It has the advantage of having a richer final ranking and of better separating the players”said Emmanuel Bojan, deputy editor-in-chief of France Footballon the set of La Chaîne L’Équipe, this Wednesday.
This therefore has the effect of blocking the path of some whose status and career were sufficient until now to make a place in the thirty without really forcing themselves. This year, some superstars are not on the bill, notably Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Rodrygo. Choices that may seem harsh when the Belgian won the Premier League or the Brazilian lifted the Champions League. Those of leaving Robert Lewandowski, Antoine Griezmann or Rafael Leão on the sidelines should however be welcomed because of the performances too irregular to dislodge a player from Girona or Atalanta, who have precisely hurt them throughout the season. A year after the mass exile, it is also appreciable not to see any resident of the Saudi championship, not even Cristiano Ronaldo. The next step is therefore to let the voters tick thirty names to see even more surprises.
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