The curtain has fallen on the past football season locally and continually, and the players are preparing after the end of their matches with the national teams of their countries for a long summer vacation.
This means that the race to win the Golden Ball award for last season started among the players who achieved personal numbers and collective titles.
These are the top 10 players nominated to win the prestigious award, whose winner will be announced on October 30, according to the British “Give Me Sport” website:
10. French Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/Saudi Al Ittihad): The winner of the last edition of the competition, as he scored 31 goals with Al-Malik, and won titles with his former team: the European Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup, and the King’s Cup of Spain.
9- Polish Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona): He scored 23 goals for Barca, and contributed to winning the La Liga title since 2019.
8- Georgian Khvica Kvaratsegilia (Napoli): The best player in the Italian League, and he performed fabulously in his first season with Napoli, and was compared to Argentine legend Diego Maradona, the former Napoli star, and contributed to his team winning the first “Calcio” title since 1990.
7- Argentine Julian Alvarez (Manchester City): The 23-year-old concluded football this season by winning the World Cup with his country, and the historic treble with the “Citizens” (Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup).
6- German Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City): The captain of the team and one of the most prominent players in his team, and he led his team to win the historic treble.
5- Brazilian Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid): One of the best players in the world today, he scored 23 goals and provided 21 assists to his teammates, and he won with the “Royal” titles: the European Super Cup, the Spanish Super Cup, and the King’s Cup of Spain.
4- Frenchman Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain): The French international won the Qatar 2022 World Cup top scorer award by scoring 8 goals, including 3 in the final, and was a decisive factor in the “Roosters” team reaching the final. He also won the “League 1” top scorer award by scoring 41 goals in 43 matches with Saint-Germain, who preserved his title. French league champion.
3- Belgian Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City): De Bruyne finished third in the list of candidates to win the award in last year’s edition, and also led his team to win the historic treble.
2- Norwegian Erling Haaland (Manchester City): Haaland presented an exceptional season, won all the individual and team awards in his first season with City, and scored 52 goals that contributed to the team winning the historic treble.
1- Argentine Lionel Messi (Saint-Germain / Inter Miami, USA): After his legendary performance in the World Cup in Qatar and his leadership of the Argentine national team to win the title, winning the award for the best player in the World Cup and winning the French League, it seems that “the flea” is on an open path to winning his eighth golden ball, and strengthening his record number of winning the award.
According to the site, there are 10 other players occupying positions from 11 to 20, they are:
11- Nigerian Victor Osmin (Napoli)
12- Spaniard Rodri (Manchester City)
13- Argentine Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
14- England’s Harry Kane (Tottenham)
15- Portuguese Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
16- England’s Jude Bellingham (Dortmund/Real Madrid)
17- England’s Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
18- England’s Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
19- Egyptian Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
20- Portuguese Bruno Fernandez (Manchester United)
Source : Websites + social media sites
