In the early morning of October 18, Beijing time, the historic Golden Globes presented the major awards in 2022. Benzema's election to the Ballon d'Or has long been expected by the public, and the past and present life of the Golden Globe, including the origin and attribution of the seven major awards, have an inventory.
Ronaldo is only 20th Messi without a candidate
The 34-year-old has rejuvenated this past season, putting together phenomenal performances, scoring 27 league goals, 15 goals in the Champions League and the Golden Boot, especially scoring 10 goals in a row in the Champions League knockout rounds, including back-to-back hat-tricks against Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain to help Real Madrid win the league and Champions League doubles, which has made this year's Ballon d'Or less meaningful. Perhaps as a bonus, just a day before arriving in Paris to receive the award, he also opened the scoring in the national derby against Barcelona, helping the team to win 3-1 to the top of La Liga.
His performance in the national team was also impeccable. After being absent from the French national team for almost six years for various reasons, Benzema returned this year to help France win the UEFA Nations League and was the first Frenchman to score in the final. Interestingly, the last Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or, Zidane (1998), was not only Benzema's guest of honor, but also his childhood idol.
Benzema is behind Senegalese Mane, who moved to Bayern Munich this year, and Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne, whose French teammate Kylian Mbappe is in sixth place. Famous star Cristiano Ronaldo is only ranked 20th, and his record of entering the top 10 for 14 consecutive years has come to an abrupt end, which equaled his personal worst ranking in personal history when he first debuted in 2005. However, his old rival Messi is even worse, missing the shortlist for the first time since 2005. And he was the big winner of the last cup last year.
In addition, South Korean player Son Heung-min won the Premier League Golden Boot last season, and won the 11th place in the Golden Ball Award selection, the highest place in Asian history.
Seven awards, past and present
Founded in 1956 by France Football, the Ballon d'Or has a long history, has been judged by football journalists from all over the world, and the rules have changed several times. The earliest Golden Globe Awards were only awarded to athletes of European nationality, so there was also an early translation of the "European Ballon d'Or". In 1995, the rules were changed to allow the prize to be awarded to all players who played in Europe, and Liberian star George Weah, who played for AC Milan, became the first non-European winner after the restructuring.
In 2007, the Ballon d'Or was overhauled to allow footballers from all over the world to run; The 2010 Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Footballer of the Year Awards were merged to form the "FIFA Ballon d'Or", and the cooperation ended six years later.
This year's rules have also changed significantly, starting with the fact that the calendar year is no longer considered and is based on the performance of the full season; Secondly, it is clear that the player's individual performance is considered first, and the player's entire career is no longer considered.
With the gradual development of the Golden Globe Awards, the number of other awards in the series has gradually increased, and by the addition of the "Socratic Award" this year, there have been as many as 6:
Barca's Lewandowski won the Gerd Müller Award for Best Striker.
Real Madrid's Courtois won the Yashin Award for Best Goalkeeper, in honor of the only goalkeeper in history to win the Ballon d'Or (former Soviet Union).
Barca's Garvey won the Copa Prize, the symbol of the best under-21 player, named after Frenchman Copa, who won the first Ballon d'Or, and last year's winner was Pedri, also from Barcelona. But this award is easily confused with the more influential "European Golden Boy Award".
The Women's Ballon d'Or was won by Barcelona women's football star Putrilas. Although she had to endure a torn anterior cruciate ligament when receiving the award, she led Barça Women to the domestic league, Copa del Rey, Super Cup treble in the past season, reached the final of the Champions League and lost to Ligue 1 giants Lyon, but she became the top scorer of the Women's Champions League with 11 goals. She is also the first athlete in history to win the award back-to-back.
Manchester City won the club of the year award, Liverpool second and Real Madrid third.
This year's new Socrates Prize is named after the famous Brazilian star Socrates and is awarded to players who have made great contributions to society. This year's winner, Mane, who was born in a poor region of Senegal, has been contributing to his hometown in recent years, including: donating £450,000 to build a hospital in his village; donated £250,000 to build free schools and awarded computers and $400 scholarships to high-performing students; free sportswear for children in the village; $70 a month for each family in the village; 4G network was laid out in the village, as well as a gas station and post office were built.
Text / Hubei Daily reporter Guo Xiaoming
Photo: Golden Globe Awards, Xinhua News Agency