Furious Thibaut Courtois moans about his Ballon d’Or snub AGAIN as the Belgian – who came seventh – insists ‘without a good goalkeeper you don’t win a trophy’ after he claimed it would be ‘impossible’ for a stopper to ever win the prize
- Thibaut Courtois was awarded the Yashin Trophy as the world’s best goalkeeper
- However the Belgian No 1 believes those in his position are often overlooked
- He received 82 votes for the Ballon d’Or compared to Karim Benzema’s 549
Thibaut Courtois has hit out after being voted only the seventh best player of the past year, despite also winning the Yashin Trophy.
The Belgian goalkeeper stood firm between the sticks for Real Madrid as they romped to a LaLiga-Champions League double in 2021-22.
The 30-year-old has suggested that those in his position often end up being overlooked when it comes to individual awards, such as the Ballon d’Or, and has argued the importance of his counterparts in the game.
Thibaut Courtois, 30, believes that goalkeepers are often overlooked for individual awards
He told L’Equipe: ‘Without a good goalkeeper you don’t win a trophy. And in football awards, sometimes we forget that.
‘People vote faster for a striker who scores goals than by a goalkeeper. Too bad. But we will continue to show that goalkeepers are really important.
Karim Benzema won the 2022 Ballon d’Or with a total of 549 votes
‘Last year, if we won the Champions League it wasn’t just thanks to Vinicius, (Federico) Valverde, (Karim) Benzema or Rodrygo. It was also thanks to Courtois.
‘The modern goalkeeper is no longer alone to save goals. Here in Madrid I also have to start the plays, it is I who with the first pass will decide how we are going to mount the attack or how we are going to get out of the rival’s pressure.
‘Today you are almost a playmaker, goalkeepers are much more important than you think.’
The shot-stopper featured heavily for Los Blancos last term, standing between the sticks on 52 occasions in all competitions.
And his claimed importance to the side is backed up by numbers, given that he managed to keep 22 clean sheets in that time – a success rate of 42 per cent.
However he has been somewhat less impressive this term by his own very high standards, shutting out the opposition only three times in nine games – a 33 per cent success rate – and is yet to do so in the league.
The Belgian No 1 is likely to continue his work onto the international stage at this winter’s World Cup, too, as the Red Devils continue their search for a first piece of major silverware.
The 30-year-old Belgian was pivotal as Real Madrid won a LaLiga-Champions League double
He added that his side are often made to be the scapegoats for a poor team display, saying: ‘It is often written in big letters (in the newspapers) when it is a goalkeeper who makes a mistake.
‘As soon as he makes a small mistake, they kill him and say the game was lost because of him.
‘Sometimes we forget that the striker before, he may also have missed five or six easy scoring chances.’
In total, Courtois received 82 votes in the Ballon d’Or rankings, getting just 14.9 per cent of those that his team-mate and the winner Benzema attracted.
