Kane’s 73-goal season puts him in Ballon d’Or spotlight against Yamal, Mbappe

LONDON, Oct 26 — Harry Kane is favourite to become England’s first Ballon d’Or winner in 25 years when the award is presented in London on Monday, but he faces stiff competition from La Liga pair Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe.

Alexia Putellas is the clear frontrunner to win the women’s prize for a third time, with Aitana Bonmati’s three-year reign set to come to an end after an injury-hit spell.

The ceremony to decide the world’s best male and female footballers is being held in London for the first time — 70 years after England winger Stanley Matthews was presented with the inaugural award.

Bayern Munich and England forward Kane struck a remarkable 73 goals in 65 games for club and country last season, propelling the German giants to a league and cup double.

But semi-final exits in both the Champions League and at the World Cup in the United States mean a triumph for Kane at the London Palladium is far from certain.

“I’d love to be able to achieve something like that. It would be a massive milestone in my career,” said the 33-year-old former Tottenham forward.

“I think my wife would prefer to know and my family... it’s very stressful for everyone,” added the England captain.

Only four players from England have won the Ballon d’Or. Michael Owen was the last to triumph in 2001, following in the footsteps of Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Kevin Keegan.

Bayern coach Vincent Kompany praised Kane’s focus on his team, saying: “What made Harry happy the most in recent years is that he finally won his first team trophies here.

“Now if he can crown his career or his season with the Ballon d’Or, that would be deserved for the way he plays for the team.”

Yamal finished second to Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele last year and the 19-year-old Barcelona superstar seems destined to be a Ballon d’Or winner one day.

However, a hamstring injury ended his club season early and he failed to show his most irresistable form during Spain’s World Cup triumph, which was built on impressive teamwork.

But that has not diminished his confidence ahead of the ceremony.

“For me, Mbappe and me, we’re the two best players in the world,” Yamal said last month.

“I honestly think that, as the best in the world, maybe there are two of us, and this year I would deserve it because of what I’ve won.”

Mbappe, by contrast, boasts plenty of personal milestones without medals for either Real Madrid or France.

The 27-year-old was top goalscorer in La Liga, the Champions League and the World Cup without winning any of those trophies.

His 10 World Cup goals in North America made him the top goalscorer in the competition’s history, on 22.

“Being the all-time top scorer in World Cup history, overtaking all the great legends in the history of the sport in the most important tournament there is, is something that really stands out,” said Mbappe.

“Who am I voting for? Myself.”

The Ballon d’Or was established by the magazine France Football , with the first award given to Matthews in 1956.

One football journalist from each of the 100 top nations in Fifa’s rankings is invited to cast votes for their top 10 players from a 30-man shortlist.

Although the award carries no cash prize, it can generate huge bonuses from clubs and commercial partners as well as increasing a player’s overall market value.

Putellas, winner of the women’s award in 2021 and 2022, was a member of the Barcelona side that regained the Champions League last season before moving to London City Lionesses.

Her former Barcelona team-mate, Poland’s Ewa Pajor, is Putellas’s main challenger after scoring 11 Champions League goals in Barca’s latest triumph. — AFP

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伦敦，10 月 26 日——哈里·凯恩有望成为 25 年来首位获得金球奖的英格兰球员，颁奖典礼将于周一在伦敦举行，但他将面临来自西甲双星拉明·亚马尔和基利安·姆巴佩的激烈竞争。

阿莱克西娅·普特拉斯是第三次赢得女子组冠军的明显热门人选，而艾塔娜·邦马蒂在饱受伤病困扰后，她三年的统治即将结束。

评选世界最佳男女足球运动员的颁奖典礼首次在伦敦举行——距离英格兰边锋斯坦利·马修斯获得首届该奖项已经过去了70年。

拜仁慕尼黑和英格兰前锋凯恩上赛季在俱乐部和国家队的 65 场比赛中打入惊人的 73 球，帮助这家德国豪门获得了联赛和杯赛的双冠王。

但欧冠联赛和美国世界杯都止步半决赛，这意味着凯恩在伦敦帕拉丁剧院的胜利还远未可知。

“我非常希望能取得这样的成就。这将是我职业生涯中的一个重要里程碑，”这位33岁的前托特纳姆热刺前锋说道。

“我想我的妻子和我的家人都更想知道……这对每个人来说压力都很大，”这位英格兰队长补充道。

只有四名英格兰球员获得过金球奖。迈克尔·欧文是最后一位获此殊荣的英格兰球员，他在2001年获奖，此前马修斯、博比·查尔顿和凯文·基冈也曾获此殊荣。

拜仁主教练文森特·孔帕尼称赞凯恩对球队的专注，他说：“近年来最让哈里高兴的事情就是他终于在这里赢得了他的第一个球队奖杯。

“如果他能凭借为球队所做的贡献，最终赢得金球奖，那将是对他职业生涯或本赛季的完美总结。”

去年，亚马尔屈居巴黎圣日耳曼队的奥斯曼·登贝莱之后，获得金球奖第二名。这位19岁的巴塞罗那超级球星似乎注定有一天会赢得金球奖。

然而，腿筋受伤使他的俱乐部赛季提前结束，在西班牙凭借出色的团队合作赢得世界杯冠军的过程中，他未能展现出自己最不可阻挡的状态。

但这并没有削弱他在典礼前的信心。

“在我看来，姆巴佩和我，是世界上最好的两名球员，”亚马尔上个月说道。

“我真心认为，世界上最好的球员可能只有我们两个人，而今年我凭借取得的成绩，理应获得这个称号。”

相比之下，姆巴佩虽然取得了许多个人里程碑式的成就，但无论是为皇家马德里还是法国队赢得奖牌，他都没有获得过任何奖牌。

这位27岁的球员曾是西甲联赛、欧冠联赛和世界杯的最佳射手，但却未能赢得任何一座奖杯。

他在北美世界杯上打入的 10 个进球，使他以 22 个进球成为该赛事历史上的最佳射手。

姆巴佩说：“成为世界杯历史上的最佳射手，在最重要的赛事中超越这项运动历史上所有伟大的传奇人物，这确实是一件非常了不起的事情。”

“我投票给谁？我自己。”

金球奖由《法国足球》杂志创立，1956 年首届金球奖颁给了马修斯。

国际足联排名前 100 的国家/地区各邀请一名足球记者，从 30 人的候选名单中投票选出他们心目中的前 10 名球员。

虽然该奖项没有现金奖励，但它可以从俱乐部和商业合作伙伴那里获得巨额奖金，并提高球员的整体市场价值。

普特拉斯曾于 2021 年和 2022 年获得女子组奖项，上赛季她作为巴塞罗那队的一员帮助球队重新夺回了欧冠冠军，之后转会至伦敦城狮女足。

她的前巴塞罗那队友、波兰球员埃娃·帕约尔是普特利亚斯的主要挑战者，她在巴萨最近一次夺得欧冠冠军的征程中攻入11球。——法新社

姆巴佩因一段提及毛泽东的视频而被两家中国品牌解约。

纳达尔将在拉斯维加斯表演赛中重返硬地赛场。

凯恩击败亚马尔和姆巴佩，荣膺金球奖

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