Napoli star Kalidou Koulibaly was quite upset that Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy was not among the 30 nominees for the Ballon d'Or this year.
France Football announced the nominees for the 2021 Ballon d'Or last week, but Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez were the only African players to make the cut.
Mendy played a key role in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League success last season but was not nominated, while Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was the only shot-stopper to get the nod.
"He is the first African goalkeeper to win the Champions League.
"We must continue to work and move forward. We have to do the double [the work] of some people to be well judged.
"Edou is a very positive person. We talked about it together. He will continue to fight to be part of it. For me, he has a place among these 30 players."
Former AC Milan and Liberia superstar George Weah remains the only African player to have won the prestigious award, which has been dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo over the past decade.
Scroll right to see the all the 2021 Ballon d'Or nominees
Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
N'Golo Kante (Chelsea/France)
Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund/Norway)
Mason Mount (Chelsea/England(
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France)
Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur/England)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain/Italy)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City/England)
Nicolo Barella (Inter Milan/Italy)
Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain/Argentina)
Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United/Portugal)
Pedri (Barcelona/Spain)
Luka Modric (Real Madrid/Croatia)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus/Italy)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City/Belgium)
Ruben Dias (Manchester City/Portugal)
Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina)
Simon Kjaer (AC Milan/Denmark)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich/Poland)
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt)
Jorginho (Chelsea/Italy)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United/Portugal)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Luis Suarez (Atletico Madrid/Uruguay)
Phil Foden (Manchester City/England)
Gerard Moreno (Villarreal/Spain)
Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea/Belgium)
Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea/Spain)
Related tags
