Messi drops nomination for first time in 16 years
Son Heung-min (30, Tottenham, photo) was named among 30 candidates for the ‘Ballon d’or (Golden Ball)’, the most prestigious award given to soccer players. Among the 30 players, Son Heung-min is the only Asian player.
France Football, a French football media that hosts the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony, announced the nominees on the 13th and said, “Heung-Min Son was co-scorer with Mohammed Salah (Liverpool) in the English Premier League (EPL) last season, and his team Tottenham Together with Harry Kane, they worked as a duo of horror.” Salah and Kane were also included in the 30 nominees.
This is the second time Son Heung-min has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or award following 2019. Son Heung-min is the first Korean player to be nominated twice. Seol Ki-hyeon (43), who played for Anderlecht in the Belgian League in 2002, was the first to be nominated, and in 2005, Park Ji-sung (41), who played for Manchester United in the EPL was nominated. There have been no cases of Korean players winning awards yet.
World-class goal getters including Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Elling Halan, Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) were also included in the 30 nominees.
Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), the winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2019 and 2021, was not on the nomination list. It is the first time in 16 years that Messi has not been nominated for 30 nominations since 2006. Messi scored only six goals in Ligue 1 in France last season. Winners will be announced on October 17th.
By Kim Dong-wook, staff reporter creating@donga.com
