International Football
MESSI MISSING ON 2019 BALLON D’OR SHORTLIST
For the first time since 2007 when Kaka of Brazil won the award, both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are conspicuously missing in the 20-man shortlist for the Men’s Ballon d’Or award.
The award is being packaged by France Football, which released the initial 20 of the expected 30-man list.
The final list will be revealed on December 2 in Paris. Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder, Laka Modric won last year’s award.
The first quintet announced contained a trio of Premier League players, with Sadio Mane, Sergio Aguero and Hugo Lloris joining Dusan Tadic and Frenkie de Jong.
Champions League winners Liverpool boast the most players so far, with six names on the list. Mane is joined by Virgil van Dijk, who was named 2019 UEFA Player of the Year, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson Becker, Gini Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino.
Five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo was named in the third batch of nominees, while 11 of the first 20 players are from the Premier League.
| Nominee | Teams |
| Hugo Lloris | Tottenham/France |
| Sadio Mane | Liverpool/Senegal |
| Sergio Aguero | Manchester City/Argentina |
| Dusan Tadic | Ajax/Serbia |
| Frenkie de Jong | Barcelona/Netherlands |
| Kylian Mbappe | Paris Saint-Germain/France |
| Trent Alexander-Arnold | Liverpool/England |
| Donny van de Beek | Ajax/Netherlands |
| Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Arsenal/Gabon |
| Marc-Andre ter Stegen | Barcelona/Germany |
| Gini Wijnaldum | Liverpool/Netherlands |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Juventus/Portugal |
| Alisson | Liverpool/Brazil |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid |
| Matthijs de Ligt | Juventus/Netherlands |
| Virgil van Dijk | Liverpool/Netherlands |
| Bernardo Silva | Manchester City/Portugal |
| Heung-min Son | Tottenham/South Korea |
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich/Poland |
| Roberto Firmino | Liverpool/Brazil |
The 30 nominees have been chosen by the editorial staff at France Football, while the winner will be determined by the votes of an international panel of journalists – one per country.
There are three main criteria that nominees are judged on. These are: individual and team achievements over the last 12 months, a player’s talent and flair, and a player’s wider career.
Every voting journalist will get five picks, each worth a different value. A top pick is worth six points, with subsequent choices getting four, three, two or one point. In the event of two players getting the same number of total points, the number of first place votes will be taken in account, followed by second place votes, third place votes, and so on.
France Football also oversees the Women’s Ballon d’Or, which was new in 2018 and won for the first time by Lyon striker Ada Hegerberg, as well as the Kopa Trophy for players aged 21 or under, and the new Yachine Trophy to recognise the best goalkeeper of the calendar year.
The Ballon d’Or was briefly partnered with FIFA from 2010 until 2015, but the world governing body has already held its own separate 2019 award ceremony, during which Lionel Messi and USWNT icon Megan Rapinoe scooped the two main individual 2019 awards.
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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