Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Greizmann believes that he deserves to be in the top three when the final results of Ballon d’Or voting are announced.
Greizmann enjoyed the most successful year of his career to date last season as he picked up Europea League and European Super Cup winners medals either side of winning the World Cup with France this summer.
The Frenchman scored 23 goals for Diego Simeone’s side at club level and 4 goals for his country during their triumph in Russia but he was ultimately left out of the shortlist for FIFA’s best men’s player award last week – as per the Telegraph.
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According to L’Equipe, the 27-year-old forward now insists that he should be recognised for his recent achievements at this year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, which is considered the most prestigious event for individual honours in football.
Griezmann told the media in an interview with the French publication: “I deserve to be in the top three.”
He then went on to give his opinion on the FIFA awards snub, stating that the fact there was no French players in the final shortlist was ‘surprising’.
“It’s weird and a pity,” he continued. “This is a trophy that’s awarded by FIFA, right? We won a World Cup and there’s no Frenchman on the shortlist. That’s the choice, but it’s surprising.”
Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah made the final three shortlist for that particular award and all of them will likely be favourites to finish in the same position when the Ballon d’Or voting result is revealed, with 5-time winner Lionel Messi also a strong contender.
There is no doubt that Griezmann is a fine player but does he deserve to be considered in the top three bracket for the best in the world? We will find out soon enough but in the meantime, Atletico fans will hope that he can put this disappointment behind to him to focus on helping the club build another title challenge in La Liga.