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Karim Benzema won Ballon d’Or award for world’s best players
Karim Benzema won Ballon d’Or award for greatest male player in the world for 2022 on Monday, while Alexia Putellas, a midfielder for Barcelona, was named the best female player for a second time.
Benzema is the first French player to win the cup since Zinedine Zidane in 1998 and the sixth overall after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, and Jean-Pierre Papin. He was instrumental in Real’s journey to the Champions League victory last season.
Benzema said on stage at the presentation, “This award in front of me makes me incredibly proud. When I was small, it was a boyhood goal, I never gave up… Anything is possible.”
“I’m incredibly pleased of my trip here. It wasn’t simple, it was a terrible time for my family as well. There was a rough moment when I wasn’t on the French squad, but I never lost up,” the athlete said.
Benzema won the trophy after Argentina’s Lionel Messi won it for a record-breaking seventh time in 2017 by defeating Robert Lewandowski of Poland, Sadio Mane of Senegal, and Kevin De Bruyne of Belgium.
With 44 goals in 46 appearances across all competitions, Benzema had an outstanding season with Real, helping them win the LaLiga and Champions League double. He scored 15 goals in the Champions League, helping Real win a record-breaking 14th championship.
Real staged incredible comebacks from deficits against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, and Manchester City in the round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals, respectively. Benzema scored in each of those second legs.
The highlight of their European season was their 3-1 victory over PSG in the return leg when the Spanish club was trailing 2-0 overall. Benzema scored a hat-trick in the final 17 minutes to shock the Ligue 1 team.
Defeating Beth Mead of England, who won the European Championship, and Sam Kerr of Australia, Spanish international Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for a second consecutive year.
Putellas, who earlier this year won the FIFA Best Women’s Player award, led all scorers with 11 goals in the Champions League and had 18 goals in the Primera Division last season.
However, the 28-year-old missed the Euros for Spain since he injured his anterior cruciate ligament before the competition in England.
Thibaut Courtois of Real earned the Lev Yashin award for outstanding goalkeeper last year after making nine saves in the final against Liverpool to preserve a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory in Paris.
The Best Club accolade, however, went to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, which won their fourth Premier League championship in five years. The teams in the Champions League final were beaten by Manchester City.
Gavi, an 18-year-old midfielder for Barcelona, received the Kopa Trophy for the finest player under 21 while Sadio Mane, a forward for Bayern Munich, took home the first-ever Socrates award for his humanitarian work.
Lewandowski, who scored 50 goals for Bayern last season in all competitions, did not leave empty-handed either as he took home the Gerd Muller Trophy for the greatest striker.
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