Anger as Sam Kerr misses out on top Ballon d’Or award

Sam Kerr has gone agonisingly close to being crowned the queen of world football at the 2023 Ballon d’Or awards.

Sam Kerr. Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Sam Kerr has finished runner up in the Ballon d’Or awards for best female player.

The Matildas star was on Tuesday morning voted to be the second best player on the planet, with Spanish superstar Aitana Bonmati awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or Féminin at a glitzy Paris ceremony.

Bonmati’s win was followed by the shock result of veteran megastar Lionel Messi winning his eighth Ballon d’Or.

It was the best result Kerr has achieved after finishing third in voting in 2022 and 2021.

The Chelsea striker has finished in the top 10 every year since the women’s award was founded in 2018.

The 30-year-old has had the world at her feet in the past 12 months, leading Chelsea to victory in the FA Cup and Women’s Super League, scoring 29 goals in 38 appearances

Sam Kerr keeps scoring goals for fun. Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images.

Kerr also played a huge part in the Matildas’ run through to the semi-finals of the World Cup, despite a devastating calf injury ruining her campaign.

It’s why plenty of fans and commentators believe Kerr deserved the award more than Bonmati.

Sam Kerr is an icon. Her impact in football will be felt on and off the pitch for years to come. One of the best players we’ve witnessed in the women’s game and a BLUE. Congratulations on your second place Ballon d’Or finish💙🇦🇺

— Ray (@SirayahShiraz) October 30, 2023

Sam Kerr should be first

— Chijioke (@Cjdon25) October 30, 2023

Although Sam Kerr didn’t win the women’s ballon d or I’m so proud of her. She was top 4 finalists for the award. It’s still a huge accomplishment.

Only upwards from here, she will keep shining. 👏👏

— Asad Ali (@Asadali6678) October 30, 2023

What does she have to do to win it?? Sam Kerr is my winner pls. 🫶🙌 pic.twitter.com/lhRDlQTIdh

— Elan_tracey ✨ (@elantracey) October 30, 2023

Sam Kerr top 2 again, we will get there one day 😢

— Rola (@kofoworola__a) October 30, 2023

Sam Kerr deserves that award

— TRY GOD (@TRYGOD0001) October 30, 2023

Kerr’s Matildas teammate Hayley Raso also finished 17th in voting.

It was the first time two Australians had ever been nominated for football’s highest individual honour, NCA NewsWire reports.

Kerr, who collected a “dream” haul of goals in front of family and friends in her home town of Perth against the Philippines on Sunday, said she had fought hard to get to where she was in her life and career.

“It’s a long journey, it’s a hard journey. You’ve just got to keep at it,” Kerr said.

“Everyone has ups and downs in their career. It’s just a journey. Lots of hard work, lots of sacrifice – maybe missing a friend’s party or two on the weekend.

“You’ve got to love it. You’ve got to be in it.

“I think just getting over those hurdles for me was really important as a young kid.

“I could have given up many times, but I didn’t because I love it. We’re all here now because of the sacrifices and hard work.”

Bonmati, meanwhile, has succeeded her international teammate Alexia Putellas as the queen of world football.

Bonmati starred as Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and also she was also Barcelona’s best player as they took out the Women’s Champions League.

She had already been named UEFA Women’s Player of the Year.

“It is difficult to improve on this. It has honestly been a unique year,” she said.

“If anyone had said to me when I was little that I would play at the Camp Nou, win a World Cup, two Champions Leagues, a Ballon d’Or, a UEFA prize, extraordinary things have happened for me lately.”

Millie Bright and Sam Kerr. Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images.

“I am lucky to be part of a club like Barca, where I am surrounded by the best players,” she added of the Spanish and European champions.

The 25-year-old midfielder was named the best player at the World Cup as the Spanish team overcame off-field turbulence, including protests against their national federation and coach Jorge Vilda, to lift the trophy.

Their victory celebrations after beating England in the final in Sydney were overshadowed by Spanish Football Federation chief Luis Rubiales’s forced kiss on the lips of Bonmati’s teammate Jenni Hermoso as she went to collect her medal.

On Monday, Rubiales was handed a three-year ban from all football activities for three years.

However, Bonmati did not want to take the focus away from her own achievement on Monday.

“I hope we can just talk about sport. There are enough extraordinary things in our country for us to always be talking about things that are less about sport,” she said.

Bonmati was one of four members of the triumphant Spain team to feature among the 30 nominees for the Ballon d’Or, with Alba Redondo, Salma Paralluelo and full-back Olga Carmona, who netted the winner in the final, all shortlisted too.

Paralluelo finished in third place.

— with AFP

Originally published as Anger as Sam Kerr misses out on top Ballon d’Or award