Karim Benzema Writes Own Piece Of History, Wins...

Karim Benzema Writes Own Piece Of History, Wins Ballon d’Or For 1st Time

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, who last season tallied 44 goals in 46 outings or his club Real Madrid has for the first time won football’s most prized silverware, the Ballon d’Or, for 2022.

In an acceptance speech, Benzema said, "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 - Zidane and Ronaldo. I've 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'm 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'm happy and pleased with my work and I keep going.

"I want to thank my team-mates, whether it's Real Madrid or the national team. My coach, thanks to him as well. The Real Madrid president as well.

"I have a lot of people to thank. It's an individual prize, but it's a collective one because everyone has played a role."

Benzema (34) becomes the first French winner of the Ballon D'Or since Zinedine Zidane - who presented him the award - in 1998.

He was instrumental in his club’s lifting of the Champions League, the Spanish and European Cups.

Sadio Mane, the Bayern Munich forward was voted second best, Kevin De Bruyne settled for third position while Barcelona midfielder Gava was conferred with the award for the best young player of the year.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah finished in fifth place, with Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo settling a distant 20th, the worst he has done so since 2005..

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland finished in 10th place, just one place ahead of Tottenham's Heung-Min Son and two over current club team-mate Riyad Mahrez.

Racer Esteban Ocon delivered the Ballon d'Or trophy in his Formula One car as the world's best football stars walked the red carpet of the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

Liverpool duo Fabinho and Virgil van Dijk finished in 14th and 16th place respectively, while Luis Diaz, Casemiro, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Darwin Nunez and Joao Cancelo made up the rest of the 25-man shortlist.

Manchester City were named Club of the Year at the Paris ceremony after winning their fourth Premier League title in five seasons, beating runners-up Liverpool and Real Madrid to the prize.

"We haven't won the Champions League yet, but we are proud of how we play as a team," said De Bruyne who picked up the award for the club.

The full men's Ballon D'Or award rankings

1st - Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France)

2nd - Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Senegal)

3rd - Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)

4th - Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Poland)

5th - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt)

6th - Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain and France)

7th - Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium)

8th - Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid and Brazil)

9th - Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)

10th - Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Norway)

11th - Heung-Min Son (Tottenham and South Korea)

12th - Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City and Algeria)

13th - Sebastian Haller (Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Ivory Coast)

Joint 14th - Fabinho (Liverpool and Brazil), Rafael Leao (AC Milan and Portugal

16th - Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)

Joint 17th - Luis Diaz (FC Porto, Liverpool, and Colombia), Casemiro (Real Madrid, Manchester United and Brazil), Dusan Vlahovic (Fiorentina, Juventus and Serbia)

20th - Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United and Portugal)

Joint 22nd - Bernardo Silva (Manchester City and Portugal), Phil Foden (Manchester City and England), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool and England)

Joint 25th - Darwin Nunez (Benfica, Liverpool and Uruguay), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig and France), Joao Cancelo (Manchester City and Portugal), Mike Maignan (AC Milan and France), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea, Real Madrid and Germany), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich and Germany)