Chelsea and Italy midfielder Jorginho is over the moon to have featured in the top three in the voting for the 2021 Ballon d’Or award.
On Monday evening, the 29-year-old came up short against seven-time winner Lionel Messi and Polish superstar Robert Lewandowski.
It has been an incredible year for the Italian. He has won three trophies, including Euro 2020 with his country and the Champions League with Chelsea. In August, Jorginho and the Blues also lifted the Super Cup.
He was tipped as a surprise Ballon d’Or candidate – including by international team-mate Lorenzo Insigne.
Jorginho didn’t ultimately win the award, but he was still delighted to finish in the top three.
He could not attend the ceremony in Paris due to Covid-19 restrictions, but spoke during the ceremony via video link to give his reaction to the achievement.
Jorginho responds to Ballon d’Or bronze reward
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho was keen to emphasise the team element of his success. He went on to praise his team-mates for their support in helping him to achieve such a feat.
The midfielder said: “I am very happy but I achieved this not by myself but with the help of the whole team.”
“I’m just really grateful for that and I’m really happy and proud of myself and proud of the whole group and proud of this team because we deserve it, all together.”
“I always say the first thing we need to think about is the group, the team. We need to put that at the front and then comes the individuals, so when we have an amazing group like this that works together, is really humble, always smiling, trying to help each other then of course the results come and you have awards.”
Who finished in the top 10 for the 2021 Men’s Ballon d’Or award?
The prestigious award was eventually won on the evening by Lionel Messi. It is the seventh time he has won the award and the first time he has won without being a Barcelona player for the entire calendar year.
Messi has scored 32 goals in 2021 and provided 12 assists. He has played for both Barca and current club Paris Saint-Germain.
Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski claimed second place. Jorginho’s votes would ensure he finished ahead of Karim Benzema and Chelsea team-mate N’Golo Kante, who rounded out the top five.
Here is the top ten in full (nationality first):
1. Lionel Messi (Argentina / Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain)
2. Robert Lewandowski (Poland / Bayern Munich)
3. Jorginho (Italy / Chelsea)
4. Karim Benzema (France / Real Madrid)
5. N’Golo Kante (France / Chelsea)
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal / Juventus and Manchester United)
7. Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool)
8. Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City)
9. Kylian Mbappe (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
10. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy / AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain)
Featured Image Credit: Getty
