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CSmith1919 Chuck Smith is the site manager for Bavarian Football Works, where he began writing in 2017. He is the author of The Daily Schmankerl, the longest-running daily Bayern Munich column in English, and also writes The Weekend Warm-Up. In addition to covering Bayern Munich news and providing commentary on Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga, and the German national team. He brings more than 30 years of sports-writing experience to the site. Over the course of his career, he has written for numerous newspapers and websites.
There are plenty of ways to make your case for the Ballon d’Or.
You can score insane goals. You can your club on your back through an entire season. You can win trophies, break records, and consistently produce when the biggest games arrive.
Or, apparently, you can just tell everyone that you are the best and then explain why you deserve the award.
FC Barcelona star Lamine Yamal, who is extremely good and obviously not some hack, was asked about his status in the Ballon d’Or race and his answer sounded less like an assessment of the competition and more like a campaign speech. Transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano captured this shameless bit of self promotion:
“🚨🌕 Lamine Yamal: “Kylian Mbappé and I, we are the two BEST in the world…
…but I think I AM the one who deserves to win the Ballon d’Or”, told Movistar. 🔥☝🏽”
Well, at least Yamal is not lacking confidence.
The problem is that Yamal completely discounted the greatness of Harry Kane, who won two trophies, scored more than anyone in the world, and led England to a third-place finish in the World Cup. Kane, though, recently said that the Ballon d’Or race is “out of my hands” and was not not going to fall into the trap of making the kind of grandiose statements that Yamal and his idol, Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappé have made.
Yamal and Mbappé want to make sure that everybody knows exactly where they rank themselves, and let the Ballon d’Or voters know that they would very much like their attention.
Kane, meanwhile, has taken the slightly less theatrical approach. The Bayern Munich striker does not need to campaign for himself every time a microphone appears. He does not need to declare that he is the best player in the world or explain why an individual award belongs on his shelf. He scores goals, wins trophies, and lets the numbers make the argument for him.
There is definitely something refreshing about that.
Kane’s case for the Ballon d’Or can be made without a self-promotion campaign. The Englishman’s performances speak for themselves. His goal totals speak for themselves. His consistency speaks for itself.
So while Yamal and Mbappé are busy making sure everyone knows they deserve the Ballon d’Or, Kane can be over here doing the old-fashioned thing — playing football, scoring goals, and winning games.
What a concept.
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