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Paris: Matildas superstar Sam Kerr has been crowned the second-best women’s player on the planet after finishing second in the Ballon d’or Feminin.
Kerr finished third behind Alexia Putellas in 2021 and 2022 and again played second fiddle to a Spanish star – Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati – at a glittering ceremony in the French capital.
The Australian skipper won a fourth-straight Women’s Super League title with Chelsea, also lifting a third consecutive FA Cup in a season which saw her help the Matildas to a World Cup semi-final despite injury cruelling the early stages of her home campaign.
She scored three goals in the Matildas’ most recent victory – an 8-0 drubbing of the Philippines in an Olympic qualifier in Perth on Sunday.
Lionel Messi, meanwhile, won the men’s Ballon d’Or for a record-extending eighth time after fulfilling his life’s ambition by leading his country to the World Cup title in Qatar last year.
Adding to his silverware the one major trophy that eluded him in his storied career was the decisive factor in an otherwise quite mundane season — for his standards — at Paris Saint-Germain.
Ballon d’Or Feminin runner-up Sam Kerr was at her mercurial best for the Matildas on Sunday.Credit: Getty
Messi won ahead of Manchester City forward Erling Haaland and his former PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe. The 36-year-old previously won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019 and 2021.
A year after missing out on the shortlist for the 2022 Ballon d’Or, and despite leaving top-level European soccer behind, Messi recovered his crown.
He won the sport’s biggest individual prize due to his tremendous World Cup. In Qatar, Messi was involved in 10 goals for Argentina, scoring seven and assisting three. He scored twice in the final against France.
His final season with PSG was less shiny. Although PSG won a record-extending 11th French league crown, they again exited the Champions League in the round of 16.
Lionel Messi’s eighth Ballon d’Or came 14 years after his first.Credit: AP
Since moving to Inter Miami in the United States, Messi has already picked up his first silverware there by inspiring the team to victory in the US Leagues Cup.
Messi succeeded Karim Benzema.
Mbappe hoped another Frenchman could win the Ballon d’Or after he scored a hat trick in the World Cup final, though France lost in a penalty shootout.
Haaland led City to a treble of trophies last season — Champions League, English Premier League, FA Cup — while scoring 52 goals.
Aitana Bonmati had a year to remember with Barcelona and Spain.Credit: AP
Bonmati had already been awarded UEFA best women’s player and the Golden Ball for the top Women’s World Cup player following Spain’s win in the final over England. She scored three times and assisted twice at the tournament.
“We are a country that lives football, intensely,” Bonmati said. “We have a unique talent in Spain.”
For the first time last year, the trophy awarded by France Football magazine was based on achievements from the past season. It was previously awarded based on performances through a calendar year. Stanley Matthews won the first Ballon d’Or in 1956.
The women’s trophy was created in 2018, and both were cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
AP
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