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| APYonhap News |
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| APYonhap News |
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The son was calm and the dad was excited.
Ramin Yamal (18, FC Barcelona), who won second place in the Ballon d'Or in 2025 and second consecutive Trophy Copa, the rookie of the year, thanked French football for giving this award at the Chardelle Theater in Paris on the 23rd (Korea time). I'm proud to be here again. I am also grateful to the Barcelona and Spain national teams. Without them, me, my family and my teammates could not be here. I will try to achieve more in the future." he said in a calm voice.
Yamal played in 55 games in the 2024-2025 season and scored 18 goals and 25 assists to lead Spain's Primera Liga and Copa del Rey double. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) striker Usman Dembele, who shines in quadruples, has been mentioned as a strong candidate for the Ballon d'Or. Dembele was the choice of the Ballon d'Or, which was voted by 100 reporters from around the world. Dembele, who has played for PSG since 2023 after playing for Stadren, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona, won the Ballon d'Or for the first time in his career at the age of 28. It has been four years since Lionel Messi in 2021 that a PSG player kissed the golden ball, and three years since Karim Benzema in 2022 as a French player.
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| EPAYonhap News |
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But Yamal also wrote history. In Korea, Yamal, a third-year high school student who is about to take the College Scholastic Ability Test, was the youngest ever to reach the Ballon d'Or podium. He stepped on the podium two years younger than Ronaldo, Messi and Gianni Rivera (age 20). Yamal was eighth at the 2024 Ballon d'Or Awards. Yamal's senior Barcelona player, Messi, first won the Ballon d'Or podium (third place) in 2007 and then took the top spot for the first time in 2009. It has won eight awards by 2023, making it the largest number of winners ever.
Spain expects or expects Yamal to dominate the Ballon d'Or in the future along Messi's path. The father is no different. Yamal's father, Munir Nasroui, said in a video interview with Spanish outlet 'El Chiringito' at the ceremony site that "2026 is our year".
But over time his resolve turned into anger. Nasroui says "This is the biggest theft...I can't say it's a bandit hazard to humans, but I think Yamal is the best player in the world by an overwhelming margin. It's not because he's my son, it's because he's the best player in the world. There are no contenders."
Then "Yamal is a yamal. Something very strange has happened here. `Next year, the Spaniard will win the Ballon d'Or.' The Ballon d'Or is hosted by a French weekly magazine 'French Football', so he seems to have the idea of presenting an award to a French player.
Meanwhile, Dembele's teammate, midfielder Vitinha, was third, followed by English Premier League champion Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) in fourth, and Yamal teammate Hapinha (Barcelona), in fifth place. Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Gianluigi Donnarumma and Nunu Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain) are listed in the remaining top 10.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
