French striker Karim Benzema is set to claim football’s highest individual honor for the first time
Karim Benzema is in a one-horse race for the Ballon d’Or award and should be handed the prestigious accolade in Paris on Monday, according to Spanish outlet Marca.
The French striker is set to end a 14-year wait to receive football’s highest individual honor at the Theatre du Chatelet, where the Ballon d’Or gala is held.
“You will be the best in the world and the place to achieve it is Real Madrid,” Marca says the 34-year-old was told when signing for Los Blancos from boyhood club Lyon in 2009, adding that this argument “becomes a reality today.”
The Madrid-based daily newspaper claims that there are “many, very many, who believe that the Real Madrid player will be the winner of the Ballon d'Or” and that in France “they strongly feel Benzema must win it.”
Benzema will travel to Paris as part of a Madrid delegation that includes fellow nominees Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius Jr, and Antonio Rudiger.
Yet Marca states that Benzema is the “only candidate” in line for the accolade decided by France Football magazine and a panel of journalists, who have chosen the player they thought performed best in 2021-2022.
On Twitter, transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano claims that Benzema will sign a contract extension until June 2024 with Madrid after achieving his feat.
Karim Benzema, the man of the day. Ballon d'Or winner later tonight after an incredible year... and very soon it will be time to announce his new deal with Real Madrid. ⚪️⭐️ #Benzema
New contract will be valid for one more season, June 2024. It's only matter of time. pic.twitter.com/mfFyePT5pp
Benzema fired his club to a La Liga and Champions League double last season, and was pivotal in Carlo Ancelotti’s men’s run to the final in Paris against Liverpool and a record 14th European cup.
He netted hat-tricks in comeback wins against PSG and Chelsea in the knockout phase and was the top scorer of the competition on his way to winning it for a fifth time.
His 15 goals were better than the 13 scored by the only other man considered his competition for the Ballon d’Or in Robert Lewandowski.
Last week, Lewandowski gave up chase in the race by joking to Spanish broadcaster Movistar that “if they don't cancel it then he's probably going to win this Ballon d'Or” of Benzema.
The Pole, now playing for FC Barcelona, currently leads Benzema in the Pichichi rankings for La Liga’s top scorer on nine goals to the Frenchman’s four.
But another important factor in Benzema’s claim to the Ballon d’Or this year is the fact that his 27 goals were some way ahead of the 17 scored by teammate Vinicius Jr, Celta Vigo's Iago Aspas and Espanyol's Raul de Tomas in Spain’s top flight last term.
Marca notes that Benzema will become the fifth Frenchman to win the Ballon d’Or after Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Jean-Pierre Papin, and his idol and fellow Real Madrid icon Zinedine Zidane.
Benzema will be the first from his homeland to claim the award since Zidane did in 1998 after Les Bleus’ first World Cup triumph, and he will be only the second man not named Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to clinch it since Kaka in 2007.
Madrid teammate Modric temporarily broke Messi and Ronaldo’s dominance in 2018, but Messi is out of the running to reclaim the Ballon d’Or this year after an unflattering first season at Paris Saint Germain which saw him fail to make the 30-man shortlist.
Messi has begun his second term with the Ligue 1 giants in blistering form, however, and can potentially dethrone Benzema if he finally wins the World Cup with Argentina in December or helps PSG to a maiden Champions League crown.
Benzema will also head to Qatar 2022 as part of Didier Deschamps’ squad and has been backed by his manager for the Ballon d’Or.
"Obviously, it would be a very, very nice reward. I would be very happy for him if he could receive the Ballon d'Or," Deschamps told Telefoot.
“He deserves it. Thanks to everything he has achieved during the season with his performances and the titles with his club. And with us too because he helped us win the Nations League,” Deschamps added.
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