At the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France- Real Madrid and French forward Karim Benzema, won the men’s Ballon d’Or Award whilst Barcelona and Spain’s forward, Alexia Putellas retained the Women’s Ballon d’Or Award on Monday evening.
Putellas led Barcelona to another Spanish title, scoring 18 goals in the process. Barça won all 30 of their League games and also won the Spanish Cup and Super Cup.
“I am very happy to be back here. Winning last year pushed me to want to be even better. Without my teammates, this wouldn’t have been possible. I want to thank the coaches and technical staff who help me to improve every day,” said Putellas.
Beth Mead finished second in the women’s vote after helping England to glory at the Euro 2022. The Arsenal forward scored six goals and added five assists to win the tournament’s golden boot and best player awards.
Sam Kerr, the Australian and Chelsea forward came third, ahead of the Germany and Wolfsburg midfielder Lena Oberdorf. Putellas’s Spain and Barça teammate Aitana Bonmatí completed the top five.
Meanwhile, Benzema, who also won the UEFA Nations League with France last season, pushed Bayern Munich and Senegal star Sadio Mané into second place, with Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City and Belgium coming third.
“People play until their later years now and I still have this burning desire. It is this drive that has kept me going and never allowed me to let up. It makes me really proud. All the work I did, I never gave up. It was a childhood dream like all kids (have). I had two motivations in my life, (Zinedine) Zidane and Ronaldo (Nazario). I have always had this dream in my mind that anything is possible.
There was a difficult period where I wasn’t in the French team, but I never stopped working hard nor gave up. I always kept my head, concentrated on playing football and I am really proud of my journey here.
It wasn’t easy, it was a difficult time. It was hard for my family as well. To be here today, for the first time for me, I am happy and pleased with my work and I keep going,” said the 34-year-old.
The Ballon d’Or was awarded to the best man and woman footballer of the year, based on performance over the 2021-22 season and was voted for by 100 journalists from around the world.
