It’s every player’s dream to be the best player in the world. Many players would even go extra miles; double their training sessions; spend much time in the gym to improve their fitness level– all of these are done just to stand a chance of winning the highly regarded Ballon d’Or award.
Surprisingly, Chelsea forward Eden Hazard has revealed he’s not obsessed with the award and he’s not playing football to win personal awards, instead, he loves playing for the team.
“Winning the Ballon d’Or is not a goal for me. If I win it one day, great. If I do not, it won’t be a problem.”
According to the Belgian in his latest interview with the press, though he’s nominated for this year’s Ballon d’Or award, he didn’t see himself taking home the personal glory.
“Even though I had a very good year, I have to keep my feet on the ground. I do not deserve the Ballon d’Or,” he said.
He revealed that the players he’s up against in the race for the award are too good and more deserving.
He further named two players whom he believes are capable of winning the award. As for him, Croatian star Luka Modric has done enough to take home the prize as he was influential in his country’s run to FIFA World Cup second position.
He equally tipped French youngster Kylian Mbappe for the award. The young PSG striker has been awesome for club and country this year, helping the Les Blues to Russia 2018 World Cup glory.
“I would have said Luka Modric but he has played a little less well since August and September. So, if we take into account the beginning of the season, I would say Kylian Mbappe.” he said told reporters.
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Though Hazard’s analysis on Kylian Mbappe and Modric are definitely spot-on, is he right to write off himself in the race for this year’s Balon d’Or award?
Since the second half of last season, the Belgian has added more pace, trickery and goalscoring instinct to his game and these qualities made him a more useful and reliable player under Antonio Conte.
His dribbling ability can’t be compared to any player in the League, while his pace on the ball can only be equalled by a handful of players in English League.
Since Sarri takes over the club this season, Hazard seems to have woken up to the truth that he needs to score many goals to win the Balon d’Or glory and he is doing that so far this season.
In just 14 matches he’s played so far in all competitions, the 27-year-old has scored eight goals and four assists, making him one of the most productive strikers in Europe.
His talismanic nature for the Red Devils of Belgium is another reason why it would be impossible to buy Hazard’s comment about his eligibility to win the prize.
His goals and assists to Romelu Lukaku and Kelvin Debryune were one of the reasons why Belgium qualified to the semifinal round of the Russia 2018 World Cup tournament for the first time in their history.
Though they failed to defeat France in the semi-final round of the competition, they managed to defeat England in the third-place match to win bronze.
Considering the arrays of world-class players around Kylian Mbappe at PSG and the number of stars around Modric at Real Madrid, it is safe to say that winning last season’s title with their respective clubs shouldn’t be criteria for the prize.
Mbappe and Modric are worthy nominees but saying that Hazard is not in the race for the prize is far from being true and unacceptable.
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