Thibaut Courtois mentioned he thinks it is “impossible” for a goalkeeper to win the Ballon d’Or after completing 7th within the males’s 2022 score in spite of his a very powerful position in Real Madrid’s Champions League and LaLiga double.
Courtois, 30, used to be the highest-ranked goalkeeper within the 2022 record — printed in a rite organised through France Football in Paris on Monday — however positioned in the back of teammate Karim Benzema, Sadio Mane, Kevin De Bruyne, Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe within the shortlist.
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The Belgium global additionally picked up the prize for absolute best goalkeeper, which is known as after Lev Yashin, the one goalkeeper to obtain the Ballon d’Or within the award’s historical past in 1963.
“The truth is that I think it’s impossible,” Courtois mentioned to RTVE when requested if a goalkeeper may win the award once more.
“Obviously Karim deserves it, we all agree with that. But after the year I had as a goalkeeper, you win the Champions League, you win the league, you play the Champions League final and your team wins it thanks to your saves, and you only end up seventh […] that says a lot.”
“The votes don’t go towards goalkeepers,” Courtois mentioned. “In the top 10 there weren’t any defenders either. It’s what happens. It’s a bit difficult. But at least they gave me the trophy for best goalkeeper.”
Courtois used to be voted guy of the fit after creating a document 9 saves in Madrid’s 1-0 Champions League ultimate win over Liverpool in May, whilst he conceded simply 29 objectives in 36 LaLiga begins closing season.
The handiest different goalkeeper to make the 2022 males’s Ballon d’Or shortlist, completing joint twenty fifth, used to be AC Milan’s Mike Maignan.
There used to be wonder when Real Madrid completed 3rd within the 2022 Club of the Year class in the back of Manchester City and Liverpool, two groups that they beat on their manner to profitable the Champions League for the 14th time.
“Third best team in 2021-22. Happy, Real Madrid?” midfielder Toni Kroos tweeted.
Ballon d’Or winner Benzema, 34, instructed Onda Cero radio after the rite that “there’s no other option” for him than retiring at Real Madrid, whilst membership president Florentino Perez described the ahead as “a mixture of Ronaldo Nazario and Zinedine Zidane.”
“He has deserved it for years,” Perez mentioned to Cadena SER. “He’s been the best for the last three or four years.”
Perez mentioned it “doesn’t make any sense” to discuss Mbappe — who completed 6th within the Ballon d’Or score — as a imaginable long term Madrid goal.
“It’s not that [the speculation] bores me, it’s that I don’t even read it,” he mentioned.
“Real Madrid’s attacking gamers are progressing spectacularly. Rodrygo and Vinicius are two top players at 21 and 22 […] Madrid only focus on the players we have and we’re delighted with them.”