Ballon d’Or Winner Claims Mo Salah Would Get the Better of Him

· GiveMeSport

Fabio Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or back in 2006 but the Italy icon admits he'd have dreaded facing former Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.

Mohamed Salah has never won the Ballon d'Or during his career and surprisingly never finished in the top three despite his importance in Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool side.

It wasn't under Klopp when Salah claimed his best finish as he ranked fourth in last year's Ballon d'Or race after firing the Reds to Premier League glory in the 2024-25 campaign. He finished that campaign with a remarkable tally of 34 goals and 23 assists in 52 games across competitions.

Salah added a second title-winning medal to his trophy cabinet that also consists of a UEFA Champions League medal. But the most prestigious award in football has evaded him as it has some of the very best to play the game.

A new name is expected to be handed the Ballon d'Or this year, with Harry Kane, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe viewed as the three favourites . They'd join a long list of legendary names who managed to win the award once during their careers, including Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldinho, Karim Benzema and most recently Rodri.

This year's Ballon d'Or is one of the toughest to call but perhaps the most hotly contested race for the award came back in 2006. Off the back of the World Cup, it was anyone's guess who'd be winning the Golden Ball.

Zidane may well have become a two-time winner had he not headbutted Marco Materazzi in France's defeat to Italy in the final. The Real Madrid icon ended up finishing fifth while Ronaldinho claimed fourth and Thierry Henry took third spot.

Italy's World Cup triumph paid dividends as, just for the fourth time in history, a defender won the Ballon d'Or. Fabio Cannavaro pipped Italian teammate and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to the prize after captaining his country to glory.

Marcello Lippi's men weren't viewed as one of the top nations heading into the tournament but they put in one of the best defensive performances of any team in the competition's history. They also beat two of the big guns, first defeating hosts Germany in the semi-finals before their famous victory over Les Bleus.

Cannavaro was at the heart of the Italians' historic win, showing the world his world-class defensive abilities along with incredible leadership. He wasn't just handling the likes of Zidane and Miroslav Klose on international duty, but at club level, he tussled with Europe's best attackers, including Ronaldinho in El Clasico.

Cannavaro remains the last defender to win the Ballon d'Or and that doesn't look like changing this year. While he sat atop the football throne, recognised as the best player in the world in 2006, it would be interesting to see how he'd perform in the modern era.

One of the best forwards of this generation has been Salah and Cannavaro is a big fan of the former Liverpool star. In fact, he counts himself lucky not to have faced the Egyptian during his playing days.

> Speaking during an appearance on Egypt's On Sport , Cannavaro said: "Salah is a great talent. I'm fortunate that I didn't play in the same era as him. And yes, regarding your question, he would have got past me with his dribbling too."

Salah gave defenders all sorts of problems during his time in the Premier League. His instinctive movement, quick feet and clinical finishing abilities always had the Kop End on their feet.

Before Salah rocked up on Merseyside he spent time in Italy and Cannavaro clearly watched his progress: "I admired him when I watched him play with Fiorentina and Roma in Serie A, and he developed himself more and more under the leadership of Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool."

> Cannavaro added: "He is one of the best attackers of the modern era. He has become a multi-talented and complete footballer. He is one of the best attacking players of recent times."

Salah isn't nominated for this year's Ballon d'Or after Liverpool's disappointing fourth-placed finish last season and a drop in form. He has since moved on to Turkish side Trabzonspor, and he's ripping it up in the Turkish Super Lig having already bagged eight goals in as many games.

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