So now let’s talk about the highest price/achievement of it all for an individual player, Ballan d’Or, meaning Golden ball in the French language. This award was given between the year 2010 and 2015 by the French football association. Before this award was the FIF world player of the year which was awarded from the year 1991 -2009. In late 2015, the French football and FIFA decided on the merger for this award, from the FIFA world player of the year and Ballan d’Or to The Best FIFA Men’s Player. This award is selected through a voting system by national team coaches, captains and also international journalists.
With a shortlist of 23 players, the voting committee is allowed to vote for their top 3 players based on the previous year’s performance under FIFA’s jurisdiction. This award is the ultimate dream for any professional soccer player. With how long this award has been in existence, it has mainly been dominated by Europeans and South American players as those players most usually play for Europeans teams. This shows how dominant a country and continent as a whole could generally dominate in this sport.
It is of a general surprise that a country like the United States, with so many resources and capability in dominating this sport and be high up in the ranks for this representation doesn’t, especially in the Men’s division but the results we see year to year is otherwise. The women see much more success than men. The opportunities just don’t seem to be the same or anywhere comparable to other countries and continents (Europe, South America, etc.). It will take and require a lot of consistency on the domestic and international level to get there as this goal is not a shot in the dark.
Alexander Allen Addo-Atiemo 