By Katlego Sekhu
Last night saw french international forward and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, 34, receive his first-ever Ballon d’Or in France.
Senegalese striker Sadio Mane came in second while Belgian attacking midfielder Kevin De Bruyne came in 3rd.
The Ballon d’Or award honours the male player deemed to have performed the best over the previous year, based on voting by football journalists, from 1956 to 2006.
As of 2007, coaches and captains of national teams were also given the right to vote.
Sadio Mane might have not won the major award but it’s encouraging to see African players finally being recognised for their efforts in International football.
The Ballon d’Or has come under scrutiny in previous years for overlooking African players.
The one and only African player to win the award was George Weah in 1995.
Weah is a retired Leberian professional footballer and the 25th president of Liberia.
Over the last 13 years, the award has gone wither to Lionell Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, which Modric being the expectation in the 2018/19 season.
Sadio Mane has also won the maiden Socrates Award for his humanitarian work.
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