The Warm-Up: Ballon d'Or final three leaked?
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Updated 21/11/2018 at 09:49 GMT
Humour us, it's a quiet day. Plus, PSG's injury crisis, and we're coming down with World Cup fever.
Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi et Cristiano Ronaldo sont prétendants au Ballon d'Or 2018
Image credit: Getty Images
WEDNESDAY’S BIG STORIES
Ballon d’Or final 3 leaked?
It’s the quest of all footballers
So parps this promo for the Ballon d’Or. It then shows black-and-white footage of some poor 10-year-old whose brain has been so thoroughly poisoned by football’s cult of the individual, he genuinely believes that landing a prize awarded by a bunch of journalists is better than winning the World Cup. A cautionary tale indeed.
Anyway, seasoned over-interpreters of things will note that the first three players shown after defending champ Cristiano Ronaldo are:
- Kylian Mbappe
- Raphael Varane
- Luka Modric
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Probably nothing, other than all three players are among the bookies’ favourites. But hey, let's knock ourselves out with the jumping to conclusions!
For what it’s worth – and that’s very little – the Warm-Up finds it hard to get on board the Modric hype train. Yes, he’s extremely good and has been for some time. True, he won the Champions League and led a country of four million and Dejan Lovren to a World Cup final.
But what exactly was his defining contribution? For the Warm-Up, his most memorable act was needing a stupid song to get motivated for a World Cup semi-final. Sure, we’re cool with hating the England band, but Modric’s chip-on-the-shoulder little guy act was pretty tiresome.
Clearly, the defining footballer of 2018 – the person whose thrilling play is carved on to the Warm-Up’s hippocampus – is Mbappe.
Frankly, that astounding run against Argentina alone would be enough to sway us. And if that sounds reductive... it is, but just remember once again we’re talking about some stupid individual award voted by a bunch of journalists.
Four more years (until the World Cup)
Feeling a build-up of mucus in your nose, throat and sinuses this morning? That, friends, is World Cup fever. Also known as Catarrh! This thing on?
Yes, Qatar 2022 kicks off four years today. Some people who definitely don’t have skin in the game are very excited...
...others are feeling a little bit grubby about the whole thing...
...and the rest of us are still just a bit baffled about how it’s all going to work.
SPOILER: It will be very much like watching high level football in November and December, something you do every single year. It won’t be anywhere near as weird as you’re imagining.
Which is not to say it’s a correct or sensible host nation. This David Conn piece in the Guardian is the best of several pieces today on Qatar 2022.
PSG injury crisis
Speaking of Qatar, and speaking of players who would rather win individual than team awards, it’s panic stations at PSG. Mbappe and Neymar both went down injured on international duty last night – which leaves the French champions chronically short of options ahead of the weekend’s game against mighty Toulouse.
They may even have to use (*checks squad to find some absurdly underused £40m signing*)... Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting?? Wow, this really is serious.
PSG host Liverpool in a crunch Champions League game next week. Not that he’ll say it, but we can probably assume a utility forward relegated with Stoke holds fewer fears for Jurgen Klopp than two of the 10 best players in the world.
IN OTHER NEWS
Wales’s most capped player of all-time is... Chris Gunter???
The occasion of his record-breaking appearance was marked by a 1-0 defeat to Albania.
HEROES AND ZEROES
Heroes: Scotland
Promotion for Scotland! The milk and honey of League B awaits Big Eck's UEFA Nations League heroes!
Zeroes: Germany
The Warm-Up did a lengthy bit yesterday on the sorry state of Der Nationalmannschaft – but, dear reader, things have got even worse for Germany. Poland’s draw against Portugal last night relegated Jogi Loew’s men to Pot 2 in Euro 2020 qualifying.
This fact will be funny right up until the moment they are drawn against England.
RETRO CORNER
In the spirit of someone other than Messi and Ronaldo winning the Ballon d’Or, here’s 2007 winner Kaka making Gabriel Heinze look very foolish indeed.
HAT TIP
Go directly to 2:41 for the best cartoon representation of Ronaldinho you’ll see this or any day.
COMING UP
Friends, it's time to strap yourselves into your Eurosport Player subscription and watch a quadruple bill of Women's U17 World Cup action, starting at 17:00.
And with our Black Friday deal, you can get a whole year of sporting action for a pathetic £19.99? What are you waiting for, skinflints?
The second Thursday of international week is as slow as news days get - so prepare for Jack Lang's most elaborate imagined conversation between real people yet
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