Kim Min-jae is now the best center back in Asian history.

French football magazine 'France Football' held the 2023 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony at the Châtelet Theater in Paris, France at 4:45 am (Korean time) on the 31st. The Ballon d'Or is an award given to the player who has performed the best and is considered the most honorable award an individual player can receive.

Ahead of this award, Asia paid attention to Kim Min-jae's ranking. Since the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or were revealed last September, Kim Min-jae has made history. For the first time in Asian history, a center back was included in the Ballon d'Or finalists.

It was the first time in Korean history that a non-striker was among the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or. He was nominated as a Ballon d'Or candidate for the fourth time in Korea, following Seol Ki-hyun, Park Ji-sung (2005), and Son Heung-min (2019-2022).

Ahead of the Ballon d'Or award ceremony, attention was focused on whether Kim Min-jae would be able to record the highest ranking at the Ballon d'Or award ceremony in Asian history. The highest ranking in the Ballon d'Or in existing Asian history is Son Heung-min's 11th place at the 2022 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony. At the time, Son Heung-min had the best season of his life, taking the top scorer in the Premier League (PL).

‘French Football’ announced the rankings in order, starting from 30th place, ahead of the official awards ceremony. The announced rankings are 30th Ruben Dias (Manchester City), 20th Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), 28th Randall Colo Muani (Paris Saint-Germain), 27th Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan), and 26th Jamal Musiala (Bayern). Munich), and 25th place was Joszko Gvardiol (Manchester City). 카지노사이트

Dias and Gvardiol, two center backs who were among the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or along with Min-jae Kim, were ranked before Min-jae Kim. Regardless of the ranking, Kim Min-jae became the best center back, taking the highest position at the 2023 Ballon d'Or awards.

Kim Min-jae was ranked 22nd after Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), 24th, and Andre Onana (Manchester United), 23rd, were revealed. Kim Min-jae, who became the first center back in Asian history to be among the 30 finalists for the Ballon d'Or, finished his first Ballon d'Or award ceremony with a high ranking of 22nd.

Just by ranking 22nd, Minjae Kim has made history. He was evaluated as the best world-class center back in the world, both in name and reality. In 2019, Son Heung-min ranked 22nd in the Ballon d'Or after leading Tottenham to the UEFA Champions League (UCL) final for the first time as a team. Kim Min-jae earned the second-highest Ballon d'Or ranking in Asian history

Also, earning Ballon d'Or points as a center back is meaningful in itself. The only Asian players to score points in the 30-man Ballon d'Or finalist list were Son Heung-min in 2019 and 2022, and Iraq's Younis Mahmoud in 2007.

It is very difficult to score points as a centre-back. History proves this that among the center backs who were finalists for the Ballon d'Or, there are very few players who entered the top 10 of the Ballon d'Or. It is in this context that Virgil van Dijk became a hot topic when he took second place in the 2019 Ballon d'Or.

This achievement was achieved thanks to the best performance shown after moving to Naples in the 2022-23 season. Looking back at Minjae Kim's performance in the 2022-23 season, everything was a first in Asia. Kim Min-jae was Kalidou Koulibaly's replacement chosen by coach Luciano Spalletti and general manager Cristiano Giuntoli. Koulibaly's presence in Italy's Serie A was one of the best defenders in Europe.

Despite the great pressure of being a replacement for Koulibaly, Kim Min-jae showed incredible defensive ability and presence from his first game. Kim Min-jae was selected as the Player of the Month Award by the league secretariat in September on the Serie Stage, which is crowded with world-class players. In soccer, a sport where goals are scored, attention tends to be focused on positions such as attackers who are directly involved in scoring, but Kim Min-jae was immediately reborn as a top-level defender in the league with his unbelievable performance.

Kim Min-jae, who won the league's Player of the Month award just one month after joining the team, won the Italian Football Players' Association's Player of the Month award in October. Napoli began a historic run with Kim Min-jae, who completely erased Koulibaly's absence from the beginning of the season.

As the game progressed, Kim Min-jae's defensive ability became more stable, and thanks to this, Napoli ranked first in the league. Napoli's run, which began with the signing of Kim Min-jae, was a scene that could be witnessed for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona.

In the end, Kim Min-jae presented the Scudetto to Napoli, which had not won the Serie League trophy for 33 years. Along with the team trophy, Minjae Kim also achieved a historic individual award. Kim Min-jae, who was selected as one of the Serie League Best Elevens in the 2022-23 season, became the first Asian player to be named the Serie League Best Defender, becoming a world-class defender in name and reality.

In the process of Napoli winning the Serie A in the 2022-23 season, Kim Min-jae was the most important figure along with former Napoli coach Spalletti, Victor Osimhen, and Hvicha Kravatzhelia. After just one season in the Serie A, Kim Min-jae has accomplished everything he can as a defender. Kim Min-jae, who led Napoli to become the strongest player in Italy for the first time in 33 years, rose to world class status by being selected as the best defender in Serie A.

Kim Min-jae has received many personal awards, including Serie Team of the Year and ESM (European Sports Media) Team of the Year. At the 2022 Qatar International Football Federation (FIFA) World Cup, which was held in the middle of the European season, he contributed to advancing to the round of 16 despite the aftermath of injury.

In 21st place above Minjae Kim was Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid). Continuing from 20th to 11th place are Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Hvicha Kvarachelia (Napoli), Karim Benzema (Al Ittihad), and Emiliano. Martinez (Aston Villa), Ilkay Gundogan (Barcelona), Yassin Bunou (Al Hilal), Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona), and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) were in that order.

Lastly, 10th to 4th place are Luka Modric (Real Madrid), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Victor Osimhen (Napoli), Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid), Rodri (Manchester City). , and even Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) were named.