That’s right: why isn’t Dani Carvajal in the running for the France Football 2024 Ballon d’Or? Since Jude Bellingham didn’t shine at the Euro and didn’t win the tournament with England, Vinicius, Real Madrid’s other star player, could be crowned next October. At the Merengues, there are three who have achieved the Liga-Champions League-Euro 2024 “treble”: Spanish internationals Nacho, Dani Carvajal and Joselu.
The 32-year-old right-back was not only Real’s first goal scorer in the Champions League final against Dortmund, but he was also exemplary in the European Championship in Germany. He scored against Croatia in the group stage and was the originator of La Roja’s opening goal (from Nico Williams on a pass from Lamine Yamal) in the final won against the English (2-1), a week ago in Berlin.
No Ballon d’Or full-back
“It seems fair to me because he deserves it. He has won everything, La Liga, the Champions League, the Euro, he has more titles than anyone else. Today, he deserves it without a doubt.”launched at Brand Ilia Topuria, the Georgian MMA fighter who moved to Alicante at the age of 15. Ilia Topuria was present at the Boadilla del Monte town hall for a tribute to Carvajal and Joselu, who live in this town west of the Spanish capital.
A defender to win the Ballon d’Or is, however, absolutely improbable, even for this season that saw Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé not win the C1. Franz Beckenbauer was the first defender to win the Ballon d’Or, in 1972 and 1976, he the former striker replaced as a libero. Matthias Sammer in 1996 and Fabio Cannavaro in 2006, two real stoppers, then added their names to the list of winners of the individual award created by France Football. Finally, Virgil van Dijk came within a few votes of beating Lionel Messi in 2019. No full-back has been named best footballer of the year.
