The new Ballon d’Or, the 12th in a row, is stored in the showcases of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. There were days of celebration keep on going – the Royal Club won in the El Clasico, and Karim Benzema was declared the best in the world. But there is always someone who disturbs the atmosphere and spoils the fun.Trophy in hands and sour smile. Thibaut Courtois is disappointed; he thinks he was deprived and should have been ranked higher. In the final standings for the 2021/2022 season, he was (only) seventh in the selection for the ‘Golden Ball’. In front of the Belgian goalkeeper are Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Kevin de Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe. Enough to make the Belgian’s displeasure explode.##NAJAVA_MECA_6736916##Thibaut Courtois doesn’t know how to bite his tongue. And he doesn’t want to. He rarely thinks twice before shooting poison darts.”First of all, I am very happy for Karim Benzema. It seems that scoring a goal is more important than preventing your team from conceding it. You have to win that battle. I saw what logic they use and how they vote, I knew that I had no chance of finishing high, nor of winning the Ballon d’Or,” said Courtois.The custodian restrained himself when he received the “consolation” Lev Yashin award, even though he already knew then that the Ballon d’Or would go to someone else. After the ceremony, he could not keep it to himself, his tongue was untied, he relieved his soul and complained about the treatment.Karim’s golden bandage”You win the Primera and the Champions League, your team wins thanks to your saves… And you only finish seventh. I’m not even on the podium. There was not a single defender in the top ten, let alone a goalkeeper. This year at least they invented a trophy for the best goalkeeper”, commented the Belgian goalkeeper ironically and added:”It is impossible for a goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or, that’s how I see it. I don’t know if as a goalkeeper you can do more than what I did last season”.
