My favorite was Kanté who finished 5th

Ballon d'Or Award

Well-known international football journalist, longtime jury member for the Ballon d'Or Award Rasim Movsumzadeh from Azerbaijan told us about the poll of the France Football Magazine in 2021.

- In fact, it was not surprising for me that Lionel Messi won the Ballon d'Or again. After the Argentinian won the Copa America 2021 with the national team in July, there was a great deal of propaganda about his candidacy for the award. At the same time, obvious sympathy was felt for Messi when Sport.pl got the opinion of the respondents in the summer about who would be the main candidates for the Ballon d'Or 2021.

Journalists from about 200 countries are taking part in the election. If the majority of respondents voted for Messi, we must agree. Even if there is no obvious advantage, the winner is 33 points ahead of the second-ranked Robert Lewandowski. But there is no doubt about the transparency of the vote. France Football Magazine does not influence or pressure anyone to vote. There is no need for that. Only people, including journalists, have a great love and adoration for Messi.

By the way, in connection with Messi's victory for the Ballon d'Or 2021, on my Linkedin page, I congratulated him with these words:

M arvelous

E njoyable

S uccessful

S corer

I mpressive

But in my opinion, the European Championship, even the UEFA Champions League, is now a stronger competition than the Copa America. That's why I wrote the names of Chelsea's players in the first two places in my list - N'Golo Kanté (6 points from me) and Jorginho, also European champion (4 points).

Back in May, when Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League, I decided who I would vote for in the Ballon d'Or poll. Kanté, who played a key role in winning the Blues in the strongest club competition in Europe, despite not having success with France at Euro 2020, but I think he deserves the Ballon d'Or.

If we look at who voted for whom, journalists from Aruba, Estonia, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe think the same.

I must admit that I would also be happy if Lewandowski from Poland was elected the best. I wrote Lewandowski's name 3rd in my list, that is, he got 3 points from me. He has not had great international success this year with Bayern München and the national team. But he deserves the highest awards for his performance and personal results.

If Lewandowski will win the UEFA Champions League 2021-22 with Bayern München and will be the top scorer of the competition, his chances will increase for next Ballon d'Or. On the other hand, let's not forget that 2022 will be the year of the FIFA World Cup.

In my questionnaire, I also mentioned the names of Frenchman Karim Benzema (2 points) and finally Lionel Messi (1 point) in fifth place. In other words, I have a share in only one of the 613 points won by Messi in the end.

It is interesting that all players for whom I voted, although they got other places, managed to get into the top five.

According to media reports, Pascal Ferré, editor of France Football Magazine, said they might think about the 2020 Ballon d'Or, which was canceled due to the pandemic, and its possible handover to Lewandowski. Perhaps they will consult with the members of the editorial board, as well as find out the opinions of the jury members. Obviously, this is not an easy and not a quick task.

In 2020, this issue was not on the agenda like that. But Lewandowski's non-win at the Ballon d'Or 2021 led to such talk.

But how right is it to make a decision about 2020, which is already history, in a year or two? Will there be proposals tomorrow to determine the winners of the award before 1956? Or, for example, South American players who have not previously been nominated for Ballon d'Or won't want to go back to revisiting past results?

Of course, everything is possible in life, including in football.

I would not want 2020 to be empty in the list of winners of the Ballon d'Or for years.

One thing I can say for sure: if there is a vote for 2020, like many, I believe that Lewandowski will win.