Karim Benzema won the men’s Ballon d’Or 2022 award in Paris on Monday to cap off an incredible 2021-22 European football season. The Real Madrid striker also became the first Frenchman to claim the award since Zinedine Zidane did in 1998. Benzema led Madrid to the Champions League and La Liga titles last season.
He scored 44 goals in 46 matches, including 15 in the Champions League. Some of the 34-year-old’s major exploits included a 17-minute second-half hat-trick against PSG in the round of 16 of Champions League, and then another away vs Chelsea in the quarter-final first leg. He also found the back of the net thrice over both legs of the semi-final fixture against Manchester City.
After receiving the award, Benzema said, “This makes me really proud, all the work I did, I never gave up.”
“I had two role models in my life, Zidane and Ronaldo as well. I always had this dream in my mind that everything’s possible. There was a difficult period where I wasn’t in the French team but I worked hard and never gave up, kept my head down and enjoyed playing football.”
