On October 17th, one of the most desired awards among football players on the planet will be presented. The 66th edition of the ‘Ballon d'Or’ award, granted by France Football magazine, will take place with the prediction of a new candidate to win this season. Betfair asked Ronaldo Nazário, brand ambassador and two-time award winner, to assess which athlete should take this season's award. Check out the ‘Phenomenon’ opinion and Betfair's predictions.
According to the analysis of Betfair experts, the player most likely to win the ‘Ballon d'Or 2022’ is Frenchman Karim Benzema with a 67% (1.03) probability. In second place is the Norwegian Erling Haaland, with 5% (13.0), and in third is the French Kylian Mbappe with 4% (17.0).
Ronaldo, a Betfair ambassador, also sees the Frenchman as a favorite and deserving of this year's France Football award. “I'm following Betfair's bet, I believe Benzema takes the award this year. For me, this year is his, both as the best player in Europe and the best in the world,” said the ‘Phenomenon’ in an interview with Betfair.
It is not today that Ronaldo highlights the talent of the Frenchman who plays for Real Madrid. The Betfair ambassador said that Benzema is on his way to winning individual titles: “Benzema deserves the ‘Ballon d'Or’. I've been saying this for years and I've been criticized for it, but he deserves it, he's a great striker,” Ronaldo declared in a press conference in the first half of 2022.
Idol of the Brazilian national team, Ronaldo Nazário won the ‘Ballon d'Or’ award from France Football magazine twice. The first time was in 1997, when he played for Internazionale de Milan. The striker won for the second time after participating in the conquest of the fifth championship with the Brazilian team, in 2002. In addition, Ronaldo was also elected by FIFA as the best player in the world three times, in 1996, 1997 and 2002.
Ronaldo celebrates 26 years of goal that could have been ‘Puskas’
October 12, 1996 was a special day for Ronaldo - not just for the 5-1 victory over Compostela in the Spain’s Seria A Championship, but mainly for the anthological goal scored 26 years ago, in his first year as a Barcelona stricker.
The then young player, just 20 years old, stole the ball in midfield, went on the attack, made 14 touches on the ball, and, in 12 seconds of play, dribbled over five opponents before finishing and scoring a great goal.
FIFA only created the Puskás Award in 2009, which honors legendary Hungarian star Ferenc Puskás and rewards the most beautiful goal of each year since then. But many fans argue that, if the award had already existed in 1996, it would recognize this goal by the ‘Phenomenon’ that year. The ace joined in the fun when he commented on the fact to Betfair: “I agree with the fans (laughs). It was one of the most beautiful goals I ever scored and it would have been worthy of a Puskas Award, but the 1990s were one of the best for football, there were many stars and, certainly, there were other deserving goals that year,” added Ronaldo.
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Thanks to its state-of-the-art technology, the platform offers a wide catalog of products that allows you to bet with your own odds and odds offered by other users. Betfair is licensed to operate online betting and other games in 19 countries including Spain, Italy, Malta, Colombia and Great Britain.
Source: GMB
