October 27 – Harry Kane has become the first Englishman to win the coveted Ballon d’Or since Michael Owen in 2001 after pipping Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe at Monday’s awards ceremony.
Following in the footsteps of Stanley Matthews (1956), Bobby Charlton (1966), Kevin Keegan (1978 and 1979) and Owen, the Bayern Munich striker is arguably the best player in the world. Kane scored 73 goals for club and country last season, earning him the French Football Magazine award.
“Wow, I’m almost speechless,” Kane said on stage in London. “First of all, thanks again to France Football and the Ballon d’Or for this amazing event. Being in London, it’s very special, I thought it was a good omen.
“It’s just the journey. For any boy or girl who wants to achieve their dream, anything is possible. I hope my journey, it hasn’t been easy, I didn’t go straight to the top, I’ve had to experience a lot of loan moves and struggles to get to where I am now. I hope this can inspire you, and thank you very much.”
Kane succeeds Paris St-Germain and France striker Ousmane Dembele, who had won the Champions League with his club to win the award. The England striker’s success with Bayern was more modest, achieving a league and German cup double last season.
In a press conference, Kane, once of Tottenham Hotspur, added: “I’m lucky and lucky to be surrounded by amazing players, amazing people, both with the national team and with Bayern Munich. When you have players like Michael (Olise) around you, Lucho (Luis Díaz) and these guys, Bukayo (Saka) and the players who assisted me (mell, B. in positions and dragging defenders, obviously, they allow me to express myself afterwards, however much whether it’s an individual award, I’ll thank them because without any of them it wouldn’t be possible and that’s what a team does.”
The evening at the London Palladium had been chaotic after traffic in the English capital delayed the start of the ceremony by 45 minutes.
Spain’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s Ballon d’Or for the third time in a row. Aitana Bonmati of FC Barcelona is the only player to have won the award three times.
“Every boy and girl around the world, if you like soccer and if you want to play soccer, play soccer. It doesn’t matter if you’re a boy or a girl,” Putellas said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from. Don’t listen if someone tells you, you can’t do it. Believe in yourself.”
Putellas led an evening dominated by Spain. Luis de la Fuente won Men’s Coach of the Year after leading La Roja to World Cup glory this summer in New Jersey. Pere Romeu of FC Barcelona won the women’s coach of the year award. Spain also swept the Talent of the Year awards with Lamine Yamal and Vicky Lopez in their respective categories. FC Barcelona won the Women’s Club of the Year award while European champions PSG won the men’s category.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at (email protected)
