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Former Real Madrid and current Al-Rayyan star James Rodriguez has picked his former Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema as the favorite for the 2022 Ballon d'Or award.
The Colombian attacker told the following to Spanish TV show El Chiringuito (via BolaVIP):
"Karim Benzema has to win the Ballon d'Or, without any doubt. He is the best striker in the world."
It is worth mentioning that James Rodriguez has himself been nominated for the prestigious individual honor a couple of times in his career. He finished eighth in the 2014 Ballon d'Or final list. This came after he starred at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Rodriguez ended the World Cup as the tournament's highest goalscorer with six goals. He guided Colombia to the quarterfinals of the tournament where they eventually lost to hosts Brazil. Rodriguez earned a big-money move to Real Madrid after the tournaament.
French Football have already released the 30-man shortlist for the 2022 ceremony which will take place in Paris on 17 October 2022. There have been a couple of notable absentees from the nomination list. These include seven-time winner Lionel Messi and his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) teammate Neymar Jr.
Karim Benzema's excellent 2021-22 season makes him the favorite for the Ballon d'Or
Karim Benzema is the outright favorite for the 2022 Ballon d'Or due to his excellent 2021-22 season with Real Madrid. The Frenchman guided Los Blancos to a La Liga and Champions League double last time around.
Benzema was in great form last term and ended the season as Real Madrid's top goalscorer. The former Olympique Lyonnais forward scored 44 goals and provided 15 assists from 46 appearances across all competitions.
Benzema scored 15 goals in the UEFA Champions League. This included hat-tricks against PSG and Chelsea in the knockout stages of the tournament.
Benzema has also started the 2022-23 season in great fashion. The forward has scored four goals from four games across all competitions.
He netted one in the UEFA Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt in a 2-0 win for Real Madrid. The Frenchman has also scored thrice in three La Liga games for Carlo Ancelotti's side. This included a brace against Espanyol in a 3-1 win.
Karim Benzema finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or rankings last year. He finished behind Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski and Jorginho.
The Frenchman has already picked up the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award for the 2021-22 season.
