5 French players who can win the Ballon d’Or
Zizou was the last Frenchman to win the Ballon d'Or
1996 to 2002 was a golden age for France as Ligue 1 produced a lot of classy French players.
This production line gave the world such world-class talents like Marcel Desailly, Lillian Thuram, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry, David Trezeguet and many more. This generation went on to propel Les Bleus to its finest hours; the World Cup win on home soil and victory at the Euros in 2000.
A lot of players in this generation were Ballon d’Or worthy and the undoubted star of that era; Zinedine “Zizou” Zidane won the award in 1998.
Whisper it quietly but there are stirrings about the current set of players having quality as good as those of the Zidane-era. No Frenchman has won the big individual awards since Zizou but there are possibilities about this changing soon.
Here is a list of five French stars who can over the next decade prove to be the best in the world.
#5 Raphael Varane (Real Madrid)
Varane may be the first defender to win the award in a very long while
Fast, agile, intelligent and proactive, Varane has for a very long time been regarded as one of the best defenders in the world.
The 24-year-old centre-back was furiously scouted by Europe’s leading clubs while still a teenager before then Real support staff and current first team coach Zidane prevailed on the Real Madrid hierarchy to move for the fresh youngster.
He has grown leaps and bounds since joining the Spanish giants and has a roomful of medals including three UEFA Champions League winners’ medals to show for it.
For Les Bleus, Varane has been an ever-present (whenever he has not been injured) since he made his debut against Georgia in 2013.
His qualities have seen him installed as one of the leaders in Didier Deschamps’ teams and has even captained the team in a few games.
While it is difficult to imagine that a centre-back would win the Ballon again given the domination of the award by forwards in the last couple of years, a sterling display in the coming World Cup and for Real in La Liga and the Champions League might just tip the odds in Varane’s favour.