Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah has admitted that he was caught by complete surprise at his shock seventh-placed finish for the 2021 Ballon d’Or.
France Football held the ceremony for the sought-after award last November after cancelling the 2020 Ballon d’Or due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Paris Saint-Germain superstar Lionel Messi lifted a record-extending seventh Ballon d’Or on the night, with Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski ranking second.
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Jorginho, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante ranked third, fourth and fifth respectively, with five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo finishing sixth.
Salah, who was in sensational form for Liverpool last season, only secured 121 points and had to settle for seventh place in the 2021 Ballon d’Or rankings.
Speaking to Egyptian TV channel DMC, he said: “It shocked me [not doing better in Ballon d’Or voting], but there’s nothing I can say.
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“No-one in the world expected that I would be seventh, but that’s what happened.”
Salah finished behind Messi and Lewandowski for the Best FIFA Men’s Player award, but the Liverpool star failed to make the FIFPRO Men’s World 11.
The 29-year-old Egypt winger insisted that there is no “conspiracy theory” surrounding his omission from the FIFA World XI.
“I do not feel the conspiracy theory, but there may be inaccurate choices, and there are many countries which aren’t popular with football knowledge and so far from it,” Salah said.
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“I do not know their choices based on what, but I do not believe in the conspiracy theory.
“I don’t have the feeling that there is anything personal against me specifically in the FIFA choices, but this is the reality we are dealing with.”
Salah, whose Liverpool future remains uncertain, candidly admitted that he is thrilled with what he has achieved in his career at club level and on the international stage.
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“There are no words to describe how I feel about people’s positive comments towards me or to be a reason for their hope,” he said.
“Today, if I died, it would be after achieving a lot of things that I wanted to achieve.
“People don’t realise how happy I am when I come to play for the national team, it’s an honour for me to wear the national team shirt.
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“The most important match I played in my life was the qualifying match for the World Cup 2018 against Congo, my happiness after the winning goal was indescribable.”
Topics: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, England, Football
Adnan Riaz