KARIM BENZEMA has finally won the Ballon d’Or after a stunning year in which he dragged Real Madrid to Champions League glory.
The France star, 34, was instrumental in their European triumph and was handed the annual prize at a swanky Paris ceremony ahead of Sadio Mane in second and third-placed Kevin De Bruyne.
The award, based on a player’s individual achievements over a calendar year, comes after his outstanding performances in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
He scored an incredible ten goals in seven games – including two hat-tricks – as Madrid pulled off one of the most dramatic and extraordinary wins in the competition’s history.
And it is an incredible turnaround on a personal level with the ace involved in a sex tape blackmail scandal which saw him exiled from the French team and was only settled last year.
After winning the award, and with boyhood hero Zinedine Zidane next to him, he told the cheering audience: “This prize in front of me makes me really proud.
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“When I was small I never gave up. It was a childhood dream.
“I had two role models in my life. [Zinedine] Zidane and Ronaldo as well. I always had this dream in my mind that everything is possible.
“There was a difficult period where I wasn’t in the French team but I never stopped working hard. I never gave up. I always kept in my head this job of playing football.”
After his speech, the star invited his mum and son on stage to share the moment with him.
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It was Benzema’s heroics in the Champions League that made him the overwhelming favourite for this year’s Ballon d’Or honour.
Before their victory in the final over Liverpool, Real Madrid appeared determined to make it as difficult as possible for themselves as they fell behind on aggregate in each of the second legs of the knockout games.
But against Paris-Saint Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City, Los Blancos rallied every time and found a way to win.
Benzema was key to both those improbable victories for Carlo Ancelotti’s sdie and Real Madrid’s La Liga title, with the Frenchman scoring 44 goals in all competitions.
He has never previously even finished in the top three of the Ballon D’Or before this year.
He takes the crown from Lionel Messi, who had won the previous two awards.
And it means that Benzema is only the second player who is not Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to win the prestigious prize since 2008.
Luka Modric also managed to break the pair’s stronghold over the Ballon d’Or when he won it in 2018.
Benzema signed for Real Madrid in 2009 and has scored over 300 goals for the club.
De Bruyne spoke of his pride in coming third in the Ballon d’Or – which is the first time a Man City player has achieved the feat.
The 31-year-old attacking genius said: “Obviously it is nice to be in that list and to be nominated for it. I have been nominated quite a few times now, so it means you have been doing well consistently.
“To be recognised as a player is always nice. If you are in that list, then it means a lot and after it is the people’s opinion. As a player, I think
you understand what you do good and what you do bad.”
City also picked up the Club of the Year award in recognition of their overall achievements at various levels, while Thibaut Courtois won the Lev Yashin award for best keeper.
Robert Lewandowski picked up the Gerd Muller prize for best striker, and Sadio Mane didn’t leave empty-handed with the kind-hearted Senegal ace winning the new Socrates award for services off the pitch.
Barcelona starlet Gavi won the Kopa gong for best under-21 player in the world.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
