2024 Ballon d'Or?

Greetings, I am 15-year-old Garrett Zhou, a Durham Academy High School student. I enjoy studying, exercising, playing soccer, and maintaining discipline in general. My history with soccer is fairly straightforward: I began playing when I was 7 years old, and at the age of 12, I was chosen for the ECNL regional Carolinas team as the top player in the state. I was selected to travel with 20 players from my club, NCFC, to play against NY Red Bulls Academy, PDA Academy, and NYFC Academy that summer. I'm currently with the second-ranked NCFC 09 ECNL club.

Here, I make my predictions for the major trophies coming up in the soccer season. From the Ballon d'Or to the Golden Boy, everything will be in this blog post. 

Ballon d'Or: Everyone is saying that Lionel Messi should win the Ballon d'Or, and I completely agree. Nah, I'm joking, but the fact that Messi is in the conversation is ridiculous. Messi fans, name 3 notable things he has done this year. I believe that the rightful winner is Vinicius Jr, but I wouldn't be surprised or unhappy if Jude Bellingham won the award. Both had great seasons, but I think it all depends on the international tournaments (the Copa America and EURO; I have posted on both, go read them!) this summer. My bet would be on the deserving winner Vinicius Jr, who will be the first Brazilian Ballon d'Or winner since the legendary Kaka in 2007. 

The Kopa trophy, more commonly known as the Golden Boy Award, goes to the best-performing player under the age of 21. I believe that this year, the award should go to Jude Bellingham, but he has already won this trophy. I believe that since both Lamine Yamal and Endrick have so many more years to win this, they won't lift the Kopa trophy. My pick would be Kobbie Mainoo, and I think that is who the award is going to be. 

The Yashin trophy, named after the legendary Lev Yashin who remains the only keeper to have won the Ballon d'Or, is given to the best keeper. I believe that the best keeper has been Allison, but due to a lack of club success, this award is going to be difficult for him to snag unless he bags a Copa America. I think that they will give this year's Yashin trophy to Emi Martinez, which is not deserved. 

The Gerd Muller Trophy, given to the best striker of the season, is named after Gerd Muller (obviously), who was a tremendous goalscorer for both Germany and Bayern Munich. I believe that the winner this year will be Harry Kane as he has been very productive in the German Bundesliga. The challenger is going to be Erling Haaland, and he has been very good this season, but Kane has just been better. 

For the Socrates Award, named after the Brazilian midfielder Socrates, it will be tough to predict. It's given to the player who has done lots of humanitarian work. By researching the topic a bit online, I found that the favorite for the Socrates Award is Mo Salah, so that is who I am going to pick. 

Last but not least, the French Player of the Year is given to the best French player. I think that this is pretty obvious; I will go for Kylian Mbappe. He has scored lots of goals and provided lots of assists, and although there are very many good French players such as Camavinga, Saliba, Thuram, etc, Mbappe has been by far the best. 

As always, thanks for reading and have a good day.