'It surprises me a bit' - Carlo Ancelotti on Toni Kroos Ballon d'Or snub

The 2022 Ballon d'Or 30-man shortlist is out. While it features some top football stars, it does not include Lionel Messi. Meanwhile, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is surprised that Toni Kross is not featured on the list.

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Regarding the Ballon d'Or, Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is the king of the award, having won it a record seven times. The nominees for the 2022 edition have been shortlisted, while Messi is one of the notable ones not to feature in the 30-man list. In contrast, his fierce rival, Portuguese sensation Cristiano Ronaldo does feature. In the meantime, there have been calls about why some specific players were missing from the list. At the same time, Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti also expressed his surprise that his club's German midfielder Toni Kross was missing from the list.

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Speaking at the press conference ahead of Madrid's La Liga 2022-23 opener against Almeria, Ancelotti considered, "It surprises me a bit because Kroos had a fantastic season. But, it could indeed be a problem if we named all the Real Madrid players. I can understand that."

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Six Madrid players (Luka Modric, Casemiro, Thibaut Courtois, Vinicius Junior, Karim Benzema and Antonio Rudiger) have made it to the Ballon d'Or 30-man list. In comparison, Ancelotti felt many more from his side deserved to be on the list, reports 90min. "[Federico] Valverde, [Eder] Militao, [David] Alaba...they all deserve to be there. All of them had fantastic seasons. I'm not saying they should all win the Ballon d'Or, but they deserve to be on the list," he assessed.

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On being asked about the chances of Vinicius Junior taking the prize, Ancelotti measured, "Vinicius is pleased with what he has done, including scoring the goal to win the 14th Champions League. In the future, he will fight to win the Ballon d'Or. The important thing to players is to be the winner, not the final position on the list, and unfortunately, he doesn't have that chance now."