Nuno Mendes ‘cancelled out' Lamine Yamal and won more trophies than Dembele – so why's he not a Ballon d'Or contender?
HE is a Champions League, treble-winning superstar who by his own admission recently 'cancelled out' one of the most talented players around in Lamine Yamal.
Yet
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Nuno Mendes pocked Lamine Yamal during his Man of the Match performance during Portugal's Nations League win over Spain
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Mendes also guided Paris Saint-Germain to the treble, which included the Champions League title
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Fans have called for Mendes to be in the Ballon d'Or conversation
The 22-year-old full-back lit up Portugal's Nations League final
He scored a beautiful equaliser to make it 1-1 in the first half – a low driven effort any
striker
, including his 40-year-old teammate
He then stepped up to rifle in an impressive spot-kick in the shoot-out, having given 17-year-old winger Yamal – a Ballon d'Or favourite – a night to forget in Munich, a real schooling in the arts of defending and positional domination.
Mendes said post-match: 'It was a clash [with Yamal] like many others I have had during the season.
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'I have faced up to many great players, very technically skilled players who can make a difference, but today I cancelled out Lamine and [did] not let him do what he does best.
"This helped the team and I am happy I helped the team to win this trophy. It's all about being consistent.
'I have played many good games and it's about the work I do individually and with the coaches at PSG and
'The Ballon d'Or? I play with Ousmane [Dembele] and he had a wonderful season, Lamine also had a wonderful season. But Ousmane will be in the Club World Cup and Lamine won't, so I'm very happy for Ousmane.
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'I wish him the best for the Ballon d'Or and I and his teammates will help him get there.
'I play my football; there are players who are closer to that prize. I don't focus much on it.'
New footage shows Cristiano Ronaldo's wild reaction to Portugal Nations League win as Man Utd star is 'used as shield'
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Mendes said he 'cancelled out' Ballon d'Or contender Lamine Yamal on Sunday night
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Mendes' PSG team-mate Ousmane Dembele is among the favourites for the Ball d'Or
He can add modesty to his growing list of attributes, but why should Mendes be counting himself out of the most coveted individual award in
football
?
It is the peak of snobbery in the sport that the grandest of prizes – one that
It will likely carry on this year too. Barcelona's Yamal, PSG's Dembele and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah are the favourites.
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As Jamie Carragher once famously said: 'No one wants to grow up and be a Gary Neville', but is that changing?
Full-backs are now sexy, admired, idolised and coveted.
Surely the day is coming where someone in that position will win the Ballon d'Or for the very first time.
7
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Madrid
next
season.
Arsenal's
But Mendes appears to be on another planet right now.
Against Spain, he had more successful dribbles, touches, tackles, final-third passes and successful duels in the opposition box than any other
Portugal
player.
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He tasted Champions League glory against
Ligue 1
and cup double, and could yet lift more silverware at the Club World Cup in the States
next
month.
Current top 10 favourites for Ballon d'Or
Ousmane Dembele
Lamine Yamal
Ferreira Vitinha
Mohamed Salah
Raphinha
Kylian Mbappe
Gianluigi Donnarumma
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Desire Doue
Achraf Hakimi
The Ballon d'Or is often about goals, with
Sadio Mane
coming close to winning it in recent editions.
Yet it is also about big titles, and very few players can rival Mendes in that regard, but because he is a defender, the limelight will likely – and perhaps wrongly – be on others.
Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk is the last defender to feature in the Ballon d'Or top three back in 2019, and you have to go back to 2006 for a defender to win it outright – Italy's Fabio Cannavaro after leading his nation to a World Cup win.
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Time is on Mendes' side to replicate that and Manchester City holding midfielder Rodri's recent win will encourage him.
Play a starring role in
next
summer
and full-backs may finally get their moment in the sun.
7
Yamal endured an 'off night' during the Nations League final in Germany
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