It’s that time of the year when the nominations for Ballon d’Or are taking over the headlines in the world of football. Usually, it’s because of two things: who is left out of the list of 30 nominees and who will win it, and this year is no different. After the list was publicized, a record 7-time winner Lionel Messi was not in contention for the first time. But the upcoming stars like Kylian Mbappe and Dušan Vlahović were, along with Cristiano Ronaldo. And the PSG striker talked about the nomination and explained his stance regarding the prestigious reward.The men’s and women’s 2022 Ballon d’Or nominations are in! 👏Who is your favorite to win? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/5zznxplXqW— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) August 12, 2022 When asked to comment on the possible winner, he obviously pointed out at Karim Benzema, but added two more names in the Top 3.“I would say Benzema, me and Mane. Obviously. He is 34 years old, has just had the season of his life, wins a new Champions League by often being decisive… If I was Karim, if I don’t win there, I stop thinking forever at the Ballon d’Or” Mbappe said in an interview with French Football.Have you ever bought something just because it was on sale? PSG are about toThe French international also revealed his personal thoughts about the prize and his chances of achieving that in PSG.“Did I think about the Ballon d’Or when I extended my contract? Yes, of course. Real are a Ballon d’Or machine. But the most important thing is the pitch. It’s not your club that gets it, it’s you. I’m still convinced that I can win it in Paris” explained Mbappe.”City trust Pep for 7 years, in PSG you have to come and win straight away’He also talked about ‘hypocrisy’ when it comes to Ballon d’Or, since everybody wants it but the ones who openly say it are criticized.“We are in total hypocrisy because all football lovers, when the results approach, only think about that, but we, the players, would not have the right to think about it publicly? (…) Of course it’s a big lie! Maybe it’s also because people aren’t ready to hear a player say: “I’m really in a hurry to get the Ballon d’Or results because I have a real chance of having it this year”. This honesty, I think it would go wrong. We would take it for pretension or arrogance” said the Frenchman.In five years, football sportwear will be worth $120,000,000,000The Ballon d’Or has changed the format for this edition: it no longer crowns the best player over a calendar year but over the sports season, now highlighting “individual performance” and the “decisive and impressive character” of the postulants, which is the main reason why Messi was left out. He ‘paid’ the price for his transitional year from Barcelona to PSG, where his numbers last season were only 11 goals in 34 games with PSG. For example, players like Dušan Vlahović and Darwin Nunez all had excellent seasons (Vlahovic scored 17 of his 24 goals in Serie A for Fiorentina, while Nunez had 26 goals in 28 league games for Benfica).LIGUE 1 – MATCHDAY 1FridayNantes – Lille 1-1 (1-0)/Simon 28 – Ismaily 76/Saturday18.00: (2.27) Monaco (3.50) Rennes (3.50)22.00: (1.14) PSG (12.0) Montpellier (20.0)Sunday16.00: (3.40) Ajaccio (3.15) Lens (2.45)16.00: (2.40) Auxerre (3.20) Angers (3.45)16.00: (2.30) Reims (3.25) Clermont (3.60)16.00: (2.75) Troyes (3.10) Toulouse (3.00)18.05: (2.35) Nice (3.25) Strasbourg (3.50)Sunday21.45: (4.60) Brest (3.70) Olympique Marseille (1.91)***odds are subject to change
