Pedri won the Kopa Trophy on Monday evening. The award is presented annually by France Football to the greatest talent under 21. Ryan Gravenberch was also nominated, but the Ajax player ended up in eighth place. Pedri is the successor of Matthijs de Ligt, who won the Kopa Trophy in 2019. In 2020, the prizes were not awarded. Jude Bellingham finished in second place, while Jamal Musiala rounds out the top three. Gianluigi Donnarumma has also seized the Lev Yashin Trophy, which is awarded to the best goalkeeper of the year.
Pedri was the clear favorite to claim the Kopa Trophy. In the battle for the prize, the 19-year-old Barcelona midfielder dealt alongside Gravenberch with Jude Bellingham, Giovanni Reyna (both Borussia Dortmund), Jérémy Doku (Stade Rennes), Mason Greenwood (Manchester United), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) and Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich). Last week Pedri also won the Golden Boy award, the prestigious prize of the Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport.
And the 2021 #tropheekopa is… @Pedric or @FCBarcelona_es !#balloondor pic.twitter.com/Bb84xEqUBY
— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@francefootball) Nov 29, 2021
“I recently turned nineteen (November 25, ed.) and this is the best way to celebrate,” Pedri responds. “I want to thank Barca, the coaches and the captains, because they have made it easier for me”, referring, among other things, to the also present Lionel Messi. I dedicate the prize to my family and the island of La Palma, where one has to endure in difficult moments (due to a volcanic eruption, ed.)”, said the midfielder.
Donnarumma, the closing post of Paris Saint-Germain, kept ahead of Édouard Mendy (Chelsea) and Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid) in the election for the Lev Yashin Trophy. Also included were Ederson (Manchester City), Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester City), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain), Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) and Samir Handanovic (Inter Milan). ) nominated. After Donnarumma won the European Championship with Italy last summer, he made the transfer-free switch from AC Milan to PSG.
The winner of the trophy was determined by a vote. After organizer France Football compiled a shortlist of ten players, a selection of journalists – one from each FIFA football country – along with the national coaches and captains of national teams decided the winner. The journalists, players and national coaches were asked to choose the favorites based on a person’s individual and collective performance over the past year, quality of the player and taking into account the player’s career. The number one panelist receives six points, the number two five points, and so on. In the end, an overall ranking followed.