Ballon d'Or 2024, it's award day: the Nerazzurri candidates
Lautaro, Calhanoglu and Sommer among the stars of the ceremony in Paris this evening
It is the day of the Ballon d'Or 2024: the award ceremony of the prestigious prize given by France Football will be held this evening at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in the heart of Paris.
This will be the 68th edition of the award, which was first presented in 1956 to reward the best player of the year.
There are three Nerazzurri players who will be featured at the Ballon d'Or 2024 this evening: Lautaro Martinez and Hakan Calhanoglu have been included in the 30 candidates shortlisted to win the award, while Yann Sommer is part of the list of 10 goalkeepers who could win the Yashin Trophy, the award for the best goalkeeper of the year.
Lautaro Martinez
2024 is the third Ballon d'Or nomination for Lautaro Martinez.
The Nerazzurri captain finished 21st in 2021 and 20th in 2023. As reported by France Football, he played 60 matches between Inter Milan and Argentina during the 2023/24 season , scoring 35 goals and providing 4 assists.
The year 2024 was a magical one for Lautaro: Champion of Italy, top scorer and MVP of Serie A and winner of the Copa America with Argentina, a competition in which he was also the top scorer.
Hakan Calhanoglu
The heartbeat of the Inter Milan side that won the 20th Scudetto and the Second Star, Hakan Calhanoglu is among the candidates for the Ballon d'Or for the first time in his career.
The Turkish midfielder was one of the symbols in the Nerazzurri's formation last season: in total Calhanoglu collected 52 appearances, 17 goals and 3 assists between club and international matches, also winning the award for best midfielder of Serie A 2023/24.
The Ceremony and Awards: Sommer and the Yashin Trophy
During the ceremony on Monday 28 October, several awards will be presented to the best players of the past season: in addition to the Men's and Women's Ballon d'Or, there will be awards for the Kopa Trophy (best U21 player), the Yashin Trophy (best goalkeeper), the Gerd Müller Award (best goal scorer of the season) and the Club of the Year awards, both for men and women.
In addition to the usual awards, the 2024 edition sees the inclusion of two new awards: the Men‘s Coach of the Year Trophy and the Women's Coach of the Year Trophy.
Another Nerazzurri player is among the candidates for one of the awards: in addition to Lautaro and Calhanoglu for the Ballon d'Or, Yann Sommer is on the list of 10 goalkeepers nominated to win the Yashin Trophy 2024.
Yann Sommer
Nerazzurri goalkeeper Yann Sommer has been instrumental in Inter Milan's pursuit of the Second Star.
The Swiss goalkeeper was unbeaten in 19 full matches in the 2023/24 season: no foreign goalkeeper has ever done better in a Serie A season in the era of three points per win (19 clean sheets also to Sebastian Frey in 2006/07 with Fiorentina). Within the same period (since 1994/95) Yann also became the Inter Milan goalkeeper who collected the most clean sheets in a single season.
In addition to these great achievements, Sommer's numbers with Switzerland, which made it to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, must also be added: in total, Yann played 54 matches and collected 27 clean sheets.
Ballon d'Or: how it works
The Ballon d'Or is awarded based on the votes of a panel of journalists, with one journalist per country representing the top 100 teams in the FIFA ranking (and top 50 for the FIFA women's ranking).
Each journalist creates their personal shortlist, assigning: 6 points to the first choice, 4 to the second, 3 to the third, 2 to the fourth, and 1 to the fifth.
The voting is based on the completed season, from August 2023 to July 2024.
The criteria influencing the choices include the player's performance, successes with their club, behaviour on the pitch, and fair play.
(Source:https://www.inter.it/it/notizie/pallone-d-oro-2024-inter-lautaro-calhanoglu-sommer)