(Football news) LALIGA players and clubs were yet again frontrunners at the annual France Football awards in Paris for the standout players in the world of football, and yet again they took home a host of awards, cementing Spanish football’s place among the elite.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham took home Kopa Trophy for the best performing player under the age of 21. An undisputed world star at the age of just 20 and fresh from leading Borussia Dortmund to the brink of a first Bundesliga title in a decade, Bellingham has made a flying start to life in LALIGA EA SPORTS, racking up 10 goals and two assists in his first 10 matches, including a match-winning brace in his first ever ELCLASICO this past weekend.
The England international was delighted to pick up the award, which has now been won by LALIGA players in each of the last three seasons (FC Barcelona’s Pedri in 2021 and Gavi in 2022). He said: “It is a great list of players [to have won this award before]. It is an honour to be in front of some of the best players in the world here and some of the best to have ever played the game.” He also added that “to win this trophy means a lot but for me the important thing is team trophies and the important thing for me is to kick on and help Real Madrid and England win trophies for many years.”
Bellingham wasn’t the only Real Madrid star to take home an award from the awards gala in Paris, as Vini Jr picked up the Socrates Award recognising commitment to humanitarian work among footballers around the world. The superstar received the award for his work with the Instituto Vini Jr towards fighting social inequality in his home country of Brazil, and for his continued fight against racism.
“I’m really happy to win this award, to be representing the children of the favelas,” he told Realmadrid TV. “They don’t get too many opportunities, but I can give them some… I want to keep helping to make sure they get the chance to decide what they want to do with their futures. We work all over Brazil and I’d like to help beyond its borders as well. In January we’re going to start building a new school in my name, that will be free for all children to attend. I’m proud and happy.”
Over at FC Barcelona, Aitana Bonmatí won the Women’s Ballon d’Or, capping off a remarkable year in which she won the domestic Liga F and UEFA Champions League with Barça – the club she mentioned in her speech as her “lifetime club” – as well as the World Cup with Spain, a tournament at which she also won the Golden Ball for the tournament’s best player.
Considered the frontrunner for the award after a stellar 2023, Bonmatí made it three in a row the LALIGA clubs and specifically FC Barcelona Femení in the Women’s Ballon d’Or, following up teammate Alexia Putellas’ wins in 2021 and 2022.
And if that wasn’t enough for the Blaugrana, they also pickled up the Best Women’s Team Award, and club and LALIGA legend Lionel Messi won his record eighth Men’s Ballon d’Or on the night.
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