Sports fans would rejoice as France Football on Monday announced its first Women's Ballon d'Or award and named Ada Hegerberg as the best women's soccer player in the world.
Hegerberg, 23, is a resident of Norway who plays for Lyon in France. This soccer player marked a milestone in the growth of women’s football, but a distasteful comment -- Hegerberg was asked to twerk -- during the celebration on stage sparked off a controversy. Hegerberg answered “Non” and looked offended.
The 2018 Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in Paris on Monday celebrated women in football by honouring the world’s best female soccer player for the first time. The previous winners are the likes of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The Olympique Lyonnais striker Ada Hegerberg is the first woman recipient of the Ballon d'Or. "Hegerberg was dominant in the 2017-18 season, scoring 42 goals across all competitions, including 14 in the Champions League. At age 23, Hegerberg already has 272 professional goals," SBNation wrote.
Expressing her happiness at receiving the award Hegerberg said, "I want to say thanks to my teammates because this would not have been possible without them, my coach, or our president Jean-Michel Aulas. I also want to thank France Football. This is a huge step for women's football,"according to a BBC.
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How brilliant is Ballon d'Or winner Ada Hegerberg?
- Hegerberg made her debut for Kolbotn at a 15-year-old
- At 15, she helped Norway progress to the 2011 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship final.
- Her senior debut was the same year and she again captured headlines at UEFA Women's EURO 2013, where she scored in the quarter-final defeat of Spain as Norway finished runners-up.
- Since then, she has already racked up 300 career goals at age 23
- Hegerberg was nominated for the Young Player Award at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
- She recorded 15 goals in the 2017/18 UEFA Women's Champions League, her and Lyon's third triumph in a row.
- She made more history that season, helped Lyon win their third straight UEFA Women's Champions League
- In 2015/16 she was voted UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe
- Current tally (up to December 2018)
International: 66 appearances, 38 goals
UEFA club competition: 41 appearances, 41 goals
Domestic competition: 197 appearances, 205 goals
Here's Hegerberg's achievements list:
Check out this kickass goal by her:
The event’s emcee later took to Twitter to apologise and explain that it was a joke:
“He came to me afterwards and was really sad that it went that way,” Hegerberg later said. “I didn’t really consider it sexual harassment or anything in the moment. I was just happy to do the dance and win the Ballon d’Or.”
But would you also ask the men's Ballon d'Or winner to do the same thing? It was pretty sexist of you, Solveig, accept it!
Feature Image Credit: AFP
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