Mane saddened by lack of African Ballon d'Or winners

By Sports Desk May 26, 2022

Sadio Mane believes an African winner of the Ballon d'Or is overdue, with both he and Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah seemingly in the frame ahead of Saturday's Champions League final.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have dominated the award since 2008, with Luka Modric the only player to break their hegemony in the World Cup year of 2018.

France Football announced changes to the voting process in March, moving to align with the European club season and reducing the number of judges to make wins "much more demanding".

George Weah was the first and only African winner of the prestigious individual prize in 1995, but Mane appears to be in contention after enjoying a fine season with Liverpool and winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal.

"It's true. If you guys say it, what can I say myself? Which is sad," Mane said of the lack of African recognition.

"For me, it would be even more special to have another bonus, which is the Ballon d'Or, and I would be the most happy player in the world.

"This cup, the Africa Cup of Nations, is one of the biggest for myself, it is the biggest trophy I have won in my life, and for an African player not to have won the Ballon d'Or since George Weah is sad for sure.

"Winning the Champions League is special. I have a chance to play it again, and we will do everything we can to win it, and then we will see what happens with the Ballon d'Or."

Related items

  • Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout

    Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.

    Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.

    Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.

    Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.

    While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.

    Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.

    Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.

    Data Debrief: Clinically done

    For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.

    Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).

    Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.

  • Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final

    Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.

    The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.

    The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.

    Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.

    In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.

    With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.

    Data Debrief: Hitting the mark

    Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.

    But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.

    Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).

  • Laporte 'would listen to call' from Real Madrid Laporte 'would listen to call' from Real Madrid

    Al-Nassr defender Aymeric Laporte says he would listen to a call from Real Madrid if the club approached him over a transfer.

    The LaLiga champions currently only have one fit centre-back after Eder Militao suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that requires surgery against Osasuna last weekend.

    David Alaba is still recovering from a knee operation last December, while they are also light at right-back, with Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez also sidelined.

    Madrid are reportedly interested in signing Laporte, who moved to the Saudi Pro League from Manchester City in August 2023 and has made nine appearances in the competition so far this season.

    The defender won five Premier League titles while in England, as well as two FA Cups, three EFL Cups and the Champions League, while he was also part of the Spain squad that won Euro 2024 in July.

    When asked how he would feel about a potential move to Madrid, he told El Larguero: "I've read the same things as everybody else. I would listen to the call. Obviously, you don’t look down on teams like Real Madrid.

    "I've said it many times, my idea is to return to Europe. I went there [to Saudi Arabia] to play football, not to do other things.

    "So far it hasn't been bad for me as while I've been there. I've won a European Championship, which is the most beautiful thing that has happened in my career."

    Meanwhile, Tottenham full-back Pedro Porro has also seen his name linked with Los Blancos amid their recent injury problems.

    He has played all but three minutes in the Premier League this season and has made the second-most interceptions (15) and tackles (25), while nobody in the squad has made more blocks (five).

    His tally of 76 crosses is also a team-high, and he says his main focus is on the job in front of him.

    "That one of the best clubs in the world notices me means that I'm doing my job well at my club," he said. "But it's not just my name that is being linked, there are others.

    "My friends send me those rumours, but I'm focused on my job, and I cannot be distracted by that."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.