An emotional Ousmane Dembele broke into tears as he thanked his mum for supporting his career after winning the men’s Ballon d’Or in Paris.
Dembele received football’s most illustrious individual honour after leading Paris Saint-Germain to Champions League glory last season. The 28-year-old forward beat Barcelona and Spain star Lamine Yamal to the top prize, becoming the first French winner of the award since Zinedine Zidane in 1998.
Dembele used to be known as a promising but inconsistent young talent who struggled after a big-money move to Barcelona in 2017. But he was transformed after arriving at PSG in 2023, with manager Luis Enrique helping to turn him into a complete forward who offered defensive work as well as goals.
He scored 35 goals and made 14 assists in all competitions last season and was the top scorer in Ligue 1 as PSG won the title. It was the club’s Champions League triumph, though, that gave Dembele the edge over Yamal to win the Ballon d’Or, with Dembele providing two assists as the French side routed Inter 5-0 in the final.
The announcement of Dembele’s name, read out by former Barcelona and PSG superstar Ronaldinho, was met by raucous cheers and applause at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, as well as fireworks on the streets outside. Dembele then became emotional as he thanked for mum, who was invited onto the stage.
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