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Could Salah win the Balon D'Or?

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 The Balón D'Or is football's most exclusive individual prize, prized to the best player in the world for the given year. It recognizes the greatest and most talented players that consistently produced throughout the calender year. As a result, there is no surprise that it's been over 10 years since there has been a winner not named Messi or Ronaldo. They're easily the two greatest players to ever play the sport, I mean the fact we've been able to watch them compete for so long is a blessing.
Nonetheless, as we have witnessed the two "rivals" write their name into the history books as global icons, the sport has become a bit predictable because of it.

 Mohamed Salah's meteoric rise this season has been a revelation for Liverpool and Egypt. From breaking EPL records to leading Egypt to the World Cup, he's now been labelled a hero for club and country. He's been on a hot streak and doesn't seem to slow down anytime soon, and I'm willing to claim he's in line to dethrone Messi and Ronaldo in the future.

 As I'm writing this, it feels kind of silly to even think about it, like obviously this season the award will be given to one of the two once again. At this point it's almost inevitable to give the trophy to Messi or Ronaldo, especially when they score 50 goals a year and win multiple trophies year round.

 Their dominance over the sport is unparalleled, so its very unlikely that a "one hit wonder" like Salah could win it over them after one dominant season. Since 2007, both Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the award over players such as:
Fernando Torres
Xavi (three times)
Andres Iniesta (twice)
Frank Ribery
Manuel Neuer
Antoine Griezmann
And our most recent victim,

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior (twice).

As you can see above, this extensive list of legends all have been relegated to third wheel in the spotlight of Messi and Ronaldo. What could possibly make it different for Salah this season? It's fair to say that these players have accumulated more than enough achievements and accolades to deserve the award.
So in Salah's case, he has a lot of work to do this year to have a realistic chance to win. Down below we'll get into the hypothetical chance Salah has to win it.
Image result for mohamed salah

Win the Champions League

Okay so, the only REAL chance Salah has to get anywhere close to Messi and Ronaldo would be through leading Liverpool to the Champions League trophy. Unfortunately enough, they have to go through Cristiano Ronaldo and the 12x Champions Real Madrid. In a competition under the tyrannical rule of Barcelona and Madrid, it's necessary to have fresh competition and Salah could prove to do so by upsetting Real.
Of course, it won't be easy at all to beat Madrid. They own 3 of the last 4 Champions league, and they have the experience and talent to beat an inexperienced Liverpool team. Salah has to step out on the pitch, maybe score a goal or two, and prove to be the leader Liverpool needs him to be.

Exceed expectations in the World Cup this summer

This sounds a lot more complicated than it really is, all I'm saying is to make it out of Group A alive. They just have to beat Russia (at home) and Saudi Arabia, and survive Uruguay and BAM they're in the knockout rounds. After that, just try to not get brutally humiliated by either Spain or Portugal, thanks. 
Also, it would be nice if Salah could score between 3-5 goals in the group stage and the Round of 16, it would put him up there as one of the top scorers this summer.

Score 50 goals (or get anywhere near that number)

As of today, the Premier League season has ended, leaving Salah with 22 goals in 2018 so far. The only game left for him to play is the Champions League Final later this week. Let's say Salah scores a hat trick this weekend, that would leave him with 25 goals halfway through the year, and with a Champions League trophy under his belt ready to explode this summer. Mix that up with an outstanding World Cup debut, and we could be cooking up a dark horse for the Ballon D'Or. Salah would just have to pick up his form in the EPL where he left off, and reach the 50 goals tally for 2018.

OF COURSE THOUGH, this is all a made up scenario in my head. Real Madrid could crush the souls of Liverpool, Ronaldo goes on to win another Champions League trophy, plays out of his brains this summer in the World Cup, single-handedly leads Portugal to a World Cup trophy, comes back and goes on a scoring streak and leaves the rest of La Liga in the dust, retrieves the final Infinity Stone and wipes out half the universe once he receives his 6th Ballon D'Or. 

Or Messi wins it. Yeah probably that one.
Image result for lionel messi lifting jersey
insert goat emoji

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