Ousmane Dembele with his trophy. Photo: eaglenewsfeed/Instagram
This past Monday, the soccer world ceased all activity, and every set of eyes homed in on Paris, France – the location of this year’s Ballon d’Or awards ceremony. Known as the most significant awards show in soccer, this ceremony annually crowns the “world’s best player.” The main prize is the ceremony namesake – the Ballon d’Or – but there are also three more notable awards handed out at the ceremony each year; these include the Lev Yashin trophy for the world’s best goalkeeper, the Kopa trophy for the world’s best player under the age of 21, and lastly, the Gerd Muller trophy for the world’s best striker. While everyone is focused on the main award, there is still much buzz and competition for the other three awards.
This year’s race for the Lev Yashin award featured Allison Becker, the Brazilian shot-stopping wall representing Liverpool F.C. – he is who many people credit as the MVP of their title-winning campaign in the English first division. He was faced off against Gianluigi Donnarumma, the giant Italian goalkeeper who led Paris Saint-Germain to their first Champions League title in over a quarter of a century. In the end, it was Donnarumma who emerged victorious in a respectful bout between two of the greatest goalkeepers of the modern era.
On the under-21 fronts, however, there was what some would call a shoo-in victory. Despite remarkable seasons from PSG’s Joao Neves, a Portuguese center midfielder, and Desire Doue, the French starlet, and Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s teenage sensation, who was also nominated for the Ballon d’Or, swept the stakes without much complaint from anyone.
Lastly, the Gerd Muller Award, for the world’s best striker, was taken home by Swedish powerhouse Viktor Gyokeres, who is fresh off a 60 million dollar move to Arsenal in England. Gyokeres recorded an impressive 54 goals in only 52 games this past season; no one else even came close to those numbers.
Record breaker Lamine Yamal with his 2nd Kopa Trophy in the last two years. Photo: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images.
With the minor awards all said and done, all the lights focused on the most significant award, the title crowning the world’s best player. As it stood, there was a 5-player race, and it could go any which way. From each angle you examined the race from, it seemed a different player had a case to win. If you looked at it from the team achievements side of things, PSG’s Ousmane Dembele was a clear favorite, as he was the leader of a team that won both the French first division and the UEFA Champions League. If you examined the race from the angle of pure statistics, the Egyptian King, Mohamed Salah, of Liverpool F.C., was the best option. The Egyptian scored 29 goals while recording a record-breaking 18 assists, leading to 47 goal involvements in 52 games, and an English Premier League title to boot. Then again, if you looked at world fame as a factor, it would be the teenage sensation once again. Lamine Yamal of Spain and Barcelona took the world by storm as he burst onto the scene at the start of the 24-25 campaign with his dazzling moves, turning him into an international icon overnight. With the stage set, all that was left was for the award to be announced. When footballing icon Ronaldinho stepped up to hand out the award, the soccer world fell to a hush. He opened his mouth and announced the winner… the hometown hero, Paris’s own Ousmane Dembele had won! He received a standing ovation and gestures of respect from all his fellow competitors, and he accepted his award graciously. After delivering a lovely speech directed towards his mother, Dembele returned to his seat, and the awards concluded, as the soccer world resumed its hustle and bustle. The awards this year were closer than most, which led to an exciting finish that kept you guessing till the very end. In short, soccer fans will be keeping track of all the contenders eager to do it all over again next year.
