Alexia Putellas has installed herself in glory, in the Olympus of football, by winning the Ballon d’Or for the second consecutive year. Karim Benzema won it in the men’s category, an award that not only rewards the prodigious performance in his sporting maturity but also it supposes a personal redemption, above all in France, his country, for political and judicial reasons.
The 28-year-old Barça midfielder received the trophy from the old Ukrainian star Andriy Shevchenko, who took advantage of the gallery to evoke the tragedy of his country and the heroism of his compatriots. Putellas admitted that, after breaking his knee last July, he thought the Ballon d’Or was slipping away this time. The soccer player explained that, after winning last year, “I decided to try to improve myself.” “Without my companions, without a doubt, this would not be possible, I would not be here,” she continued. “I really appreciate them,” she stressed. Putellas alternated Spanish, Catalan and English. “It’s a privilege to play for Barça,” she concluded, in Catalan. You know that I am culé. And living what I lived last year with the two games at the Camp Nou, with all the fans, again thank you very much for trusting me”. Among the public attending the gala at the Châtelet theatre, Joan Laporta agreed to Putellas’s words, with a satisfied look. The president of Barça had more joy during the night: the awards to Gavi and Lewandowski.
Benzema’s victory had been an open secret for months The newspaper Le Parisien dedicated the cover and the first two pages to him yesterday, even before the award was made official. “Story of a redemption”, he titled, in reference to his personally difficult career, his absence from the national team for several years, his prison sentence –for complicity in an extortion attempt in the Valbuena case–, his lukewarm French patriotism and his controversial reproaches of racism to coach Didier Deschamps. Benzema’s paradox is that he is valued for his extreme correctness on the field (no red cards in his career), but outside the stadium he has suffered serious setbacks. The Ballon d’Or expiates those sins.
The 9 of Madrid did not wear a tie (sign of Muslim devotion?), but an elegant black collar, closed and decorated. He presented him with the Zinédine Zidane trophy. Benzema declared himself “proud of my career” and of having achieved “the dream of a child, of all children”. The striker put a lot of emphasis on his effort, on the fact that he has never given up, not even in difficult times, like when he was separated from Les Bleus. His whole family was at the theater. He brought his parents and his son Ibrahim up on stage. He thanked Florentino Pérez for having traveled to Lyon to sign him and for having always been loyal to him. In a somewhat enigmatic phrase, he stated that the prize won “is individual but also collective.” “For me it is the people’s Ballon d’Or”, he concluded.
