French Karim Benzema is the winner of the 2022 Golden Ball. The Real Madrid player has had a phenomenal season, which earned him this award in Paris on Monday 17 October. Just behind KB9, another player and not the least, the Senegalese Sadio Mané occupies the 2nd place of the ranking and becomes after the Liberian George Weah, the first African to reach this level of the podium. Nevertheless, Sadio Mané did not leave empty-handed. The child from Bambali won the first Socrates Prize in the history for his numerous social actions in his country.
Karim Benzema, author of an exceptional season at 34
Whether in Liga, which Real Madrid won thanks to his 27 goals (top scorer) and 12 assists (second best passer, behind Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembélé), or in the Champions League, where he scored 15 goals, including 10 in the knockout phase – something only Cristiano Ronaldo had achieved in the 2016-2017 season. Almost single-handedly, he turned the Merengues’ season around. “It’s a good thing they’ve already written his name on the next Golden Ball,” enthused Rio Ferdinand after his hat-trick against Chelsea (3-1, 2-3) in the quarter-finals, his second in 16 minutes against PSG (0-1, 3-1) in the previous round.
His brace, and especially his phenomenal performance in the semi-final first leg against Manchester City (4-3), gave even more weight to his candidacy for the supreme distinction. On his return, he wore his hero suit in the Bernabeu, leaving Pep Guardiola’s Cityzens in disbelief. After a crazy scenario, he completed another Madrid comeback (3-1, a.p.) by giving his team the qualification.
Sadio Mané 2nd, wins the first Socrates Award
Avec 33 buts et 5 passes décisives, son sacre à la CAN (achevée comme meilleur joueur et avec le tir au but décisif marqué en finale), son tir au but qui a qualifié le Sénégal pour la Coupe du monde, ses triomphes dans les deux coupes en Angleterre, sa place de finaliste en Ligue des champions et sa 2e place en Premier League, l’ancien pensionnaire de Génération Foot est logiquement récompensé et bat son record de 2019 (4e). Un peu plus tôt, Sadio Mané, le double Joueur Africain de l’année avait remporté le premier Prix Socrates de l’histoire pour le récompenser de ses œuvres sociales au Sénégal.
Au-delà du Sénégal, il s’agit d’une fierté pour toute l’Afrique puisque le Lion est le premier joueur du continent à terminer 2e et seulement le second depuis le Libérien George Weah, sacré en 1995, à goûter au podium !
The 2022 edition of the Golden Ball, awarded by France Football, is very specific and is based this year, for the first time, on the performances of the past season and not on the calendar year. A jury of journalists from 100 countries (the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings) conducted the voting. The four African players in the competition performed superbly, all finishing in the top 15: Mohamed Salah equalled his best ranking (5th), Riyad Mahrez came in a fine 12th and Sebastien Haller, nominated for the first time, made a memorable breakthrough to 13th place.
The Golden Ball 2022 ranking :
1. Karim Benzema (FRA, 34 ans; Real Madrid)
2. Sadio Mané (SEN, 30 ans; Liverpool/Bayern Munich)
3. Kevin De Bruyne (BEL, 31 ans; Manchester City)
4. Robert Lewandowski (POL, 33 ans ; Bayern Munich/FC Barcelone)
5. Mohamed Salah (EGY, 30 ans ; Liverpool)
6. Kylian Mbappé (FRA, 23 ans ; Paris-SG)
7. Thibaut Courtois (BEL, 30 ans ; Real Madrid)
8. Vinicius Jr (BRÉ, 22 ans ; Real Madrid)
9. Luka Modric (CRO, 36 ans ; Real Madrid)
10. Erling Haaland (NOR, 22 ans ; Borussia Dortmund/Manchester City)
11. Heung-min Son (CDS, 30 ans ; Tottenham)
12. Riyad Mahrez (ALG, 31 ans ; Manchester City)
13. Sébastien Haller (CIV, 28 ans ; Ajax Amsterdam / Borussia Dortmund)
14. Rafael Leao (POR, 23 ans ; AC Milan)
14. Fabinho (BRE, 28 ans ; Liverpool)
16. Virgil van Dijk (HOL, 31 ans ; Liverpool)
17. Casemiro (BRE, 30 ans ; Real Madrid/Manchester United)
17. Dusan Vlahovic (SER, 22 ans ; Fiorentina/Juventus Turin)
17. Luis Diaz (COL, 25 ans ; Porto/Liverpool)
20. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR, 37 ans ; Juventus/Manchester United)
21. Harry Kane (ANG, 29 ans ; Tottenham)
22. Bernardo Silva (POR, 28 ans ; Manchester City)
22. Trent Alexander-Arnold (ANG, 23 ans ; Liverpool)
22. Phil Foden (ANG, 22 ans ; Manchester City)
25. Darwin Nunez (URU, 23 ans ; Benfica/Liverpool)
25. Christopher Nkunku (FRA, 24 ans ; RB Leipzig)
25. Joao Cancelo (POR, 28 ans ; Manchester City)
25. Antonio Rüdiger (ALL, 29 ans ; Chelsea/Real Madrid)
25. Mike Maignan (FRA, 27 ans ; AC Milan)
25. Joshua Kimmich (ALL, 27 ans ; Bayern Munich)
