On October 8th, the French magazine France Football released the names of the 30 players nominated for the Men’s Football Golden Ball, an award given to the best athlete in the world for the past year. The only Brazilians on the list are Neymar and Jorginho (who is naturalized Italian).

The trophy winner will be announced on November 29th at a ceremony at the theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France. The event will mark the return of the award, which was not held in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Check out the full list of nominees:

– Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Manchester United
– César Azpilicueta (Spain), Chelsea
– Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Manchester United
– Erling Haaland (Norway), Borussia Dortmund
– Gerard Moreno (Spain), Villarreal
– Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy), Paris Saint-Germain
– Giorgio Chiellini (Italy), Juventus
– Harry Kane (England), Tottenham
– Jorginho (Brazil/Italy), Chelsea
– Karim Benzema (France), Real Madrid
– Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Manchester City
– Kylian Mbappé (France), Paris Saint-Germain
– Lautaro Martínez (Argentina), Inter Milan
– Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Juventus
– Lionel Messi (Argentina), Paris Saint-Germain
– Luis Suárez (Uruguay), Atlético Madrid
– Luka Modrić (Croatia), Real Madrid
– Mason Mount (England), Chelsea
– Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Liverpool
– N’Golo Kanté (France), Chelsea
– Neymar (Brazil), Paris Saint-Germain
– Nicolò Barella (Italy), Inter Milan
– Pedri (Spain), Barcelona
– Phil Foden (England), Manchester City
– Raheem Sterling (Jamaica), Manchester City
– Riyah Mahrez (Algeria), Manchester City
– Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Bayern Munich
– Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Chelsea
– Rúben Dias (Portugal), Manchester City
– Simon Kjaer (Denmark), Milan

Other categories
In addition to the trophy for best male player of the year, the ceremony will distribute other awards. This includes the Golden Ball for the best female player (none of the finalists are Brazilian), and the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper in the world – Brazilian Ederson, from Manchester City, England, is in the running.

Glossary
Naturalized: a person who has the nationality of a country other than the one where he was born. Jorginho, a naturalized Italian, plays for the Italian national team.

Questions
1) According to the text, what is the Yashin Trophy?
a) Award given to the best coach in the world
b) Prize given to the best player in the world
c) Award given to the best player in the world who is up to 21 years old
d) Award given to the best goalkeeper in the world

2) In your opinion, who should win this year’s Golden Ball?

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