Monegasque player Radamel Falcao, C1 semi-finalist and French champion, is one of 30 people recently nominated for the Ballon d’Or 2017. The esteemed prize honours the best players of the year, based on votes from football journalists. Originally, only European players were in contention for the Ballon d’Or, but in 1995 the award was expanded to include all players in European clubs and in 2007, all players from around the world.
Radamel Falcao, the 31 year old forward and current captain of AS Monaco, scored 29 goals in 40 matches over the past year. Although the 2017-2018 season is far from over, Falcao has been playing some strong football for Monaco so far. The Colombian started the season off by scoring during Monaco’s first league match, in a 3-2 win at home against Toulouse. He then scored the first hat-trick of the Ligue 1 season against Dijon before scoring two goals (including a penalty) against Marseille, raising his tally to seven goals in four matches. According to Josep “Pep” Guardiola, current manager of Manchester City, Radamel Falcao has the instinct of a striker and is the best forward on the face of the planet.
Antoine Griezmann has also been nominated for the Ballon d’Or this year. In 2016, the Atlético Madrid striker made it to third place, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Along with Modric, Marcelo and Sergio Ramos, Germany’s Toni Kroos is the fourth winner of last year’s Champions League to appear in the list of nominees. Gianluigi Buffon, goalkeeper and finalist against Juventus, is also on the list. He is the second goalkeeper to appear on the list, after Jan Oblak. Liverpool striker Sadio Mané has also made it to the list of nominees.
