On Wednesday September 6, the list of 30 players nominated for the 2023 Ballon d’Or was revealed. As usual, there were happy people and many disappointed people. It’s a bit the same thing regarding the FIFA-The Best trophy for the best player of the year. This Thursday, the names of the twelve footballers in the race to win this title were revealed. We thus find Julián Álvarez (Argentina), Marcelo Brozović (Croatia), Kévin De Bruyne (Belgium), İlkay Gündoğan (Germany), Erling Haaland (Norway), Rodrigo (Rodri) Hernández Cascante (Spain), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Kylian Mbappé (France), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Victor Osimhen (Nigeria), Declan Rice (England) and Bernardo Silva (Portugal).
Beautiful people will therefore compete for this precious trophy. Obviously, many players are missing. And some did not fail to point this out. In Spain, the absence of Real Madrid players for the title of best player of the year raises questions. The team led by Florentino Pérez is represented in another category, since Thibaut Courtois is in the running for the best goalkeeper trophy. But no one was selected for the flagship title. And the Iberian press does not intend to let it pass.
Choices that raise questions in Spain
Marcapro-Madrid media, wrote: “What’s curious this year is that no Real Madrid player is nominated for The Best Men’s trophy.” A.S. went a little harder. “Rodrigo is the only Spanish candidate for the FIFA Player of the Year award. Haaland is the big favorite for the final victory. The absence of Real Madrid players stands out”, first indicated the Iberian publication before letting go a little more. Indeed, A.S. believes that Vincius Junior (23 years old) would have deserved to be among the twelve players named.
“It is surprising that Declan Rice, Conference League winner with West Ham, and Kvaratskhelia, who had a great year with Napoli with the Serie A title as his main success, are among the finalists, and that there is no has no Real Madrid player, such as Vinicius who scored 23 goals and provided 21 assists during the 2022-2023 season with the white team. It is true that the Brazilian wore his own last season, he who took power alongside Karim Benzema. Despite this, the player, who experienced many controversies, was not rewarded.
The absence of Vinir Jr does not go well
The panel of experts who put together the list felt that others deserved a little more than Vini Jr, who did not win any major titles last year apart from a Copa del Rey. This did not help tip the scales in his favor. A.S. indicates that he is the big forgotten one on this list. For his part, El Chiringuito has another player in mind. “Vinicius and Jude Bellingham are not among the nominees for The Best. There are no Real Madrid players.said the presenter of the famous Spanish show Josep Pedrerol.
Despite his great start to the season (5 goals, 1 assist), the 20-year-old Englishman is coming off a good season in Dortmund (14 goals, 6 assists in 42 games) without having impressed everyone either. Its absence is not a priori scandalous. Vini Jr, currently injured and decisive in big matches, would have had more reason to appear there. As for the Catalan press, the story is necessarily different. Sport highlighted “the blaugrana presence” with Xavi, Ter Stegen and Gündogan. Same thing at Mundo Deportivo who nevertheless clarified:“there is no candidate from Real Madrid (there is Thibaut Courtois for the best goalkeeper)”. Like last year, the Vinicius Jr case is the talk of the town.
