Ballon d'Or predictions with Messi set to win again
England’s nominees for the women’s Ballon d’Or award will miss the ceremony on Monday evening due to a scheduling clash which has been publicly criticised by the nominated quartet. Four players from the Lionesses’ Women’s World Cup squad have been put forward as candidates to win the award after their impressive run to the final before losing out to Spain. But to their dismay, they will not be able to attend the lavish ceremony in Paris.
Mary Earps, Millie Bright, Rachel Daly and Georgia Stanway have all been shortlisted with their international exploits and club performances standing out over the past 12 months. However, all four players are part of the England squad for a UEFA Nations League match and will not travel to the awards ceremony.
England face Belgium in Leuven on Tuesday, which means they could have attended as the events do not clash on the same day. But the players have decided not to attend due to their close proximity, as it would affect their pre-match preparation.
Stanway, who plays for Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga, admitted she was flattered to be one of the names put forward the Ballon d’Or, though the 24-year-old called for more care to be taken when planning the events to allow women footballers to attend the same ceremony as their male counterparts do.
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“It’s very cool [to be nominated]. Obviously, it’s nice to get the accolade, as well as a lot of my team-mates in the Lionesses,” Stanway told The Times. “There’s a few people that I would also add to the list that have had very, very successful years. But yeah, it’s a real achievement to be among them names and it’s unfortunate that we couldn’t be there.
“That’s something that we spoke about as a player group, and we said, ‘It would be nice in the future if it wasn’t on a match-day minus one so we could enjoy the experience.’ It’s potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You never know if you’re ever going to get selected for such an accolade like that again, so it would be really nice to enjoy the experience and be there and feel like a star among the stars.
“But unfortunately — well, not unfortunately because we’ve got a game tomorrow — but if it was planned a little bit better then it would be easier for a lot of female footballers to be there.”
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Her comments were echoed by England coach Sarina Wiegman, who has been nominated for women’s coach of the year: “We talked about the planning now, it would be nice for them [if they could attend the ceremony],” Wiegman said.
“Everyone’s working so hard and of course, we have to do a job [against Belgium]. That’s what we’re here for.”
Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí is the favourite to win the Ballon d’Or and it is reported that she will travel to Paris, despite their Nations League match in Switzerland on Tuesday. Other players such as Colombia’s 18-year-old starlet Linda Caicedo chose to miss their friendly against the United States on Sunday to attend the ceremony.
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham are the only two male England players to receive a nomination for their performances, with Lionel Messi expected to collect his eighth Ballon d’Or prize after his influence in guiding Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar back in November.
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