The winner is French?

There are 10 days left before the award of the "Golden Ball", but no one knows who will receive the main souvenir of the year. For the first time in 10 years, there is a real intrigue, because the prize will be played without Messi and Ronaldo. The coefficient on Argentine is 34, on Portuguese - 10, and translated from the bookmaker, this means “Guys, your era has finally been interrupted, in 2018 you were not the coolest”.

True, if everything is clear with Leo (failure in the Champions League, the collapse of the World Cup, the next departure from the national team), then Cristiano was stupidly unlucky. He was great the whole year, except for August, but it was then that other applicants overtook him.

Now the most obvious favorite is Luka Modric. Croat lit in the playoffs of the Champions League and at the World Cup in Russia, plus the image of a modest, hardworking, puny genius, who weaves attacks, is cut in all martial arts and thinks five steps forward. In August (the decline of CriRo) this image of Modric was maximally spun by those who were tired of the monotonous victors of the Golden Ball. Therefore, now to win the Luka bookmakers give only 1.3. Too gnome quotes, which is better to ignore.

But you can take the coolest bet that the Golden Ball still slip past of Modric. The coefficient is 2.84, but the risk is justified: there are a lot of reasons why Luka will leave the ceremony sad. And all these reasons play for the French team.

Kylian Mbappé

The guy realized the cherished dream of all the adequate teenagers: he became world champion, scored in the final, snapped off the prize for the best young player. In addition, Kylian blindingly burned for PSG: a humiliating poker at the gates of Lyon is objectively a masterpiece. In short, it was the year of Mbappe - they can easily vote for him, because journalists love geeks. A factor of 8.7 is fatter than it should be - you can take it if you need adrenaline.

Antoine Griezmann

At this forward give 4.42 - also interesting, because the Frenchman spent a turbo-stable year. He brought Atletico to two European cups, France - to gold in Russia, and himself - to the level of a true legend of the "Indians". The refusal of Barça is a powerful reputational boost: again, voting reporters miss the times when players spent their entire career in one club, so Antoine has chances for Golden Ball.

Raphaël Varane

Here the situation is in the spirit of Ringo Starr: he was not the best drummer even in The Beatles, but he was still appreciated and loved. Varane is not the best Real Madrid centre-back, but in the FIFA Awards, Modric and Ronaldo put Raphael on the first line. A chain reaction was launched among journalists (yet Luka and Cristiano are opinion leaders), and now bookmakers offer 5.85 for Varane pulling everyone and usurping a ball from France Football.

What do the insiders say? The AS data are: in the top three - Modric, Mbappe and Varane, but who is the first - is unclear. The Italian journalist Tancredi Palmeri gave out another info: “The Golden Ball” came from Griezmann. Someone from these sources is surely screwed up - all the more curious to watch what happens in Paris in early December.

Who is your favorite on the Golden Ball?