Serhou Guirassy’s strong debut season at BVB has made a big impression. The striker has been nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or.
A great honor for striker Serhou Guirassy: The Borussia Dortmund goal scorer has made it onto the list of nominees for the coveted Ballon d’Or. This was announced by the French sports newspaper “L’Équipe.”
The 29-year-old put in some strong performances in his debut season at BVB and was the Black and Yellows’ lifeline with 38 goals in 50 competitive games. Nevertheless, the Guinean is likely to be an outsider in the race for the best player award. The favorites are players such as Lamine Yamal (FC Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (FC Liverpool), and former Dortmund player Ousmane Dembele (Paris St. Germain).
The select group of 30 candidates also includes former Leverkusen player Florian Wirtz (FC Liverpool) and Bayern striker Harry Kane. Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), and Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona) are three other professionals with a BVB past on the list. German international Ann-Katrin Berger received a nomination in the goalkeeper category. Her competitors are Spain’s Cata Coll (FC Barcelona), England’s Hannah Hampton (FC Chelsea), Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie (FC Paris) and the Netherlands’ Daphne van Domselaar (FC Arsenal).
Hansi Flick is one of five candidates for the Johan Cruyff Trophy as the world’s best coach in the Ballon d’Or vote. Alongside 60-year-old Flick, possible successors to last year’s winner Carlo Ancelotti include Spain’s Luis Enrique from Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain, Italian championship-winning coach Antonio Conte from SSC Napoli, Enzo Maresca from club world champions and Conference League winners Chelsea FC, and Arne Slot. The Dutchman won the English championship with Liverpool FC.
The Golden Ball award is chosen by journalists. The prize, which is awarded by the newspaper France Football, part of the Amaury Group, has been in existence since 1956 and was long considered the award for Europe’s footballer of the year. The award ceremony will take place on September 22.
In parallel, the world governing body FIFA has been selecting the World Footballer of the Year since 1991. Between 2010 and 2015, FIFA entered into a partnership with the Amaury Group.