You can be a winner without getting the trophy. It was perhaps a little disappointing that Caroline Graham Hansen did not receive the Ballon d’Or as the world’s best player for the 2023-24 season, seen from Norwegian eyes. She was among the two favourites. It would have been great. But there is no shame in ending up behind the genius Aitana Bonmatí. We have to remember where Graham Hansen usually is when the Ballon d’Or is awarded. Ignored On the couch. In the good chair. Or another place far away from the gala where the world’s best players gather for prizes, honors and glory. For years, the dribbler has been ignored by the panel that nominates the players, an injustice that has made her one of football’s most underrated stars. She has been praised by colleagues, fans and the press. But not at France Football, the magazine that has awarded the Ballon d’Or since 1956. CHEATED: In 2023, the Norwegian football star was not nominated for the Ballon d’Or. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP Not even in the 2022-23 season, when she ravaged the right flank and Barcelona won the league and the Champions League, was she nominated as one of the world’s 30 best players. The reactions online were so strong that she herself had to go out on X and calm things down. – It’s going just fine, she wrote. But the Ballon d’Or must mean something when she takes a private plane to the ceremony in Paris, as she did on Monday evening, the day before Norway was to play the European Championship qualifier against Albania at Ullevaal. This time she wasn’t just invited to the party. She was in the limelight. Might as well have been her Maybe not as the winner of the award. It was Bonmatí who got to go up on stage, give a speech and see his name in gold for the second year in a row. But Graham Hansen wasn’t exactly secluded either. For several months, she has been referred to as one of the favourites. On Monday evening, she walked down the red carpet together with Bonmatí, Barcelona president Joan Laporta and several of the other stars – women and men – from Barcelona. STAR GALLERY: Dani Olmo, Alexia Putellas, Lamine Yamal and Caroline Graham Hansen smile broadly at the Ballon d’Or award in Paris. Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP She sat in the front row all evening, and she was up on stage with Bonmatí, who said that the Golden Ball might as well have gone to the girl from Tåsen. She was right, and it may seem bitter. But such a compliment before the eyes of the world is recognition in itself. The architect Besides, it is no defeat to end up behind Bonmatí. Graham Hansen could not do much more, with 61 goal points in 43 games. She was the most dangerous offensive player for the team that won the league, the cup and the Champions League. In Liga F, she had the most goals and assists. Late in March, you could well say that she deserved the Ballon d’Or. When the website Goal made a list of the favorites around that time, they had her at the top. But Bonmatí is the architect of Barça’s attack from central midfield. As a playmaker, she was behind more than 40 goal points, and in the decisive games she was enormous. WON AGAIN: Aitana Bonmatí ran away with the victory for the second year in a row. Photo: FRANCK FIFE / AFP She scored against Chelsea in the second round of the Champions League semi-final. In the final against Lyon, she scored the first goal. In the Nations League, which Spain won, she scored in the semi-final against the Netherlands, and the first goal in the final against France. So Bonmatí deserved the Ballon d’Or. Graham Hansen deserved the Ballon d’Or. If only they could hand out two. Votes with the heart Nevertheless, there was a risk that Graham Hansen could end up lower. She has long been the player who never gets the praise she deserves. Admittedly, it’s a France Football panel that has overlooked her for years, until she finally played too well to be ignored. But once she was nominated, Graham Hansen was to be voted for by 50 journalists from the top 50 countries in the FIFA rankings. That she deserved a place among the top two was no guarantee. Graham Hansen has never fared particularly well in Fifa’s selection of the season’s best either. She says she doesn’t care about all that off the field, from interviews to social media, and Monday night she had low expectations. WINNING MACHINE: Barcelona has collected title after title for a number of years. Photo: Jose Breton / AP We have seen strange results with the Ballon d’Or before. The editor of France Football, Vincent Garcia, said beforehand that “people vote with their hearts”. If Graham Hansen was really that unpopular, she could end up off the podium. But no. She beat all the Olympic winners from the USA. She ended up ahead of all her European “rivals”, and all but one of her teammates. The “thing” with Graham Hansen and Gullballen was never primarily about winning the award. It was about the lack of recognition, that one of the world’s best players was not even allowed to sit among the candidates. Monday night she got the respect she deserves. And that is a victory in itself. Published 29/10/2024, at 09.12
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