I deserve the Ballon d'Or: Antoine Griezmann
France and Atletico Madrid forward, Antoine Griezmann, has opened up about the possibility of him winning the Ballon d'Or. As per the talented striker, he deserves to win the prize. The 27-year-old also stated that the 2017-18 season was by far the best in his football career. Griezmann won the World Cup with France and the UEFA Super Cup with Atletico.
Griezmann's career so far: His achievements
Griezmann started out in Spain with Real Sociedad before moving to Atletico in 2014. He has become an instrumental player for Atletico's manager Diego Simeone and is regarded as their talisman. Griezmann won the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France in Russia and played a major role, starting in all the matches. He was also named La Liga Player of the Year in 2016.
Reasons why he may not win the prize this time
Griezmann has won no major silverware like La Liga or the Champions League with his club. Further, he was not the top scorer in any of them. If his World Cup win, with France, can be classified as a Ballon d'Or-deserving achievement, a case can also be made for Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante. They had equal contribution, if not more, at Russia.
Who should be the top contenders for Ballon d'Or?
Ronaldo, Modric, and Messi should be the contenders for football's top individual prize, this term. Ronaldo was phenomenal, scoring 15 UCL and 26 La Liga goals in the 2017-18 season, along with four in the World Cup. Modric had an equal hand in Real's success and took Croatia to the World Cup final. Messi, La Liga's top scorer, also won the domestic brace.
