Inter Star Was Expecting Ballon D’Or Nomination As Another Relives The UCL Final Loss

Written By Onyeka Daniel

This year’s Ballon d’Or award may be just days away with the winner set to be announced on the 21st of this month, which will be a close battle between Ousmane Dembele, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Mo Salah and even Achraf Hakimi but one player already expected his nomination even before it was announced.

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One player who is also on the list but is probably not expected to win it is Inter wingback, Denzel Dumfries who revealed that he “secretly expected” to receive a nomination for the Ballon d’Or as the Dutchman spoke about his place in the thirty-player shortlist in a recent interview.

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Dumfries is on the shortlist for the 2025 Ballon d’Or after a season in which the 29-year-old was a key player for Inter’s run to the Champions League final as he proved to be a regular scorer throughout the season, but, it was the semifinal tie against Barcelona in the Champions League where he really set himself apart.

The former PSV defender shone on the biggest stage as Inter knocked out at the Blaugrana. Meanwhile, Dumfries has picked up where he left out at the start of this season as he scored for Inter in their second Serie A match of the season against Udinese.

Then, he also scored for his country during the international break, scoring in the World Cup qualifying match against Poland. Dumfries said of his Ballon d’Or nomination that “it was truly special. I secretly expected it,” the Inter wingback continued.

“But it’s fantastic to be among the top thirty players in the world. It’s a great honour, but then you look back and think about where you started,” Dumfries said. “It’s very emotional to be able to experience all of this and it also motivates you to keep going,” he added.

“I really didn’t think that I’d be in contention for the Ballon d’Or!” Dumfries said with a laugh. In a related development, Lautaro Martinez has admitted that he ‘couldn’t speak for five days’ after Inter’s 5-0 Champions League Final defeat to PSG. ‘We felt helpless.’

The Nerazzurri reached their second Champions League Final in just three years, but while they were the underdogs and pushed Manchester City harder than expected in a 1-0 loss in 2023, this was a very different experience. They were crushed 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain.

It was the final nail in the coffin of a disastrous season that saw them empty-handed, with coach Simone Inzaghi departing for Al-Hilal. Speaking to France Football after he was nominated for the Ballon d’Or, the Inter captain admitted that he was traumatised by the events of that night.

“I couldn’t speak for five days after the Champions League Final against PSG. I was blocked, a bit distressed, and sad. We reached two Champions League Finals in the last three years. We had a great run, but in the last game, we’ve always been missing something to achieve our main goal, which is to win the Champions League.”

The capitulation was unexpected, especially considering the battle Inter had put in to eliminate Barcelona 7-6 on aggregate in extra time during that dramatic semi-final. “We knew that PSG would be a tough opponent, a solid team with a lot of confidence, but we were strong as well,” he explained.

“The last week, we prepared in a calm atmosphere, with a sense of peace and confidence. So yes, ‘helplessness’ is the right word for how we felt, because we couldn’t do any of what we had worked on. We just couldn’t translate that onto the pitch, and that was the thing that annoyed us the most.”

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Paris Saint-Germain had never won the Champions League before, but with Gianluigi Donnarumma in goal, they completed the quadruple of trophies. “They deserved this result, they played a great Final.” He further added as the team will be preparing for another UCL experience after the international break.

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