First female Ballon d’Or awarded to Norwegian
YET again, Matildas star Sam Kerr has been snubbed by FIFA – but national coach Alen Stajcic hopes it might inspire Kerr to hit fresh heights at next year’s World Cup.
Trailblazing Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg won the first women’s Ballon d’Or, with Kerr coming in fifth.
Hegerberg, the three-time Women’s Champions League winner with French side Lyon, was named the world’s best female player of 2018 at a gala in Paris on Monday.
Kerr’s ranking came despite an outstanding 2018, winning the NWSL golden boot, the PFA Women’s Footballer of the Year and ESPY Award for Best International Women’s Soccer Player, as well as the W-League Golden Boot.
But Stajcic said Kerr was motivated by more collective rewards – and could make a point when the World Cup comes around in June.
“I think Sam would say she doesn't play for individual awards, we play for team awards,” Stajcic said. “We play to grow our team and promote and develop it.
“When you get awards like that, it's great, but if you don't, it's not the be-all and end-all of her existence as a player.”
Hegerberg called the award “a huge step for women’s football” and also said she felt “very proud” to be the first Ballon d’Or-winning woman.
She scored a tournament-record 15 goals for Lyon in the Women’s Champions League last season.
Awards DJ Martin Solveig apologised and said he was taken aback by the stormy reaction online after he asked Hegerberg whether she could “twerk” live on stage. The awards co-host in Paris provoked a torrent of complaints about sexism with his question about the sexually suggestive dance, which received a blunt “No” from the unamused Norwegian striker.