Seoul, Oct. 18 (BUS): South Korean soccer star Son Heung-min broke his own mark for the highest-ranking Asian player ever in the annual Ballon d’Or voting, taking the eleventh place for the prestigious award.
At a celebration in Paris, Son, who scored 23 goals for Tottenham Hotspur to share the Premier League Golden Boot with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah last season, fell outside the top ten, Yonhap news agency reported.
Son, the only Asian nominee this year, had reached 22nd place out of 30 finalists in 2019, when he was nominated for the award for the first time.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema snatched his first Ballon d’Or award after helping his Spanish side win La Liga and the UEFA Champions League last season.
The French striker topped both competitions by scoring 27 goals in the league and 15 goals in the continental championship.
Salah ranked fifth.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, who have risen to the top in the Ballon d’Or race for more than a decade, have come close to sniffing the trophy this time around.
Messi, the record winner seven times, was not even nominated, while Ronaldo, who won this award five times, took the 20th place.
SM