Sadio Mane Wins Big! At 2022 Ballon D’or

The most prestigious individual title in club football history was not far away from Africa’s best player, Sadio Mane.

In the later hours of Monday, the Bayern Munich striker finished 2nd in the 2022 Ballon d’Or behind Karim Benzema.

At the end of a turbo charged season, the Senegalese international had the award on hindsight after scooping titles for club and country.

By finishing second, the erstwhile Liverpool forward became the first player from the continent to finish at that level after George Weah of Liberia, was crowned winner in 1995.

With 33 goals and 5 assists, his award at the AFCON (Best Player), his converted penalty which qualified Senegal for the World Cup, his double winning campaign in England, ending up as beating finalist in the Champions League and finishing runner-up in the Premier League, the Génération Foot graduate got no more than he deserved.

Earlier, in the evening, the two-time African Player of the Year had won the first Socrates Prize in history, rewarding him for his social and humanitarian works in Senegal.

As a reminder the Ballon d’Or, awarded by France Football, was based this year for the first time on the performance of the past season and not on the calendar year. A jury made up of journalists from 100 countries (the first 100 countries in the FIFA rankings) proceeded to vote. The four African players in the running produced superb performances by finishing all in the Top 15: Mohamed Salah equaled his best ranking (5th), Riyad Mahrez took a fine 12th place and Sébastien Haller, named for the first time, made a memorable breakthrough to the 13th place.

First three

1. Karim Benzema (FRA, Age – 34; Real Madrid)
2. Sadio Mané (SEN, Age – 30 years old; Liverpool/Bayern Munich)
3. Kevin De Bruyne (BEL, Age – 31; Manchester City)