Georgia Stanway disappointed to miss ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ Ballon d’Or ceremony
Georgia Stanway says it is frustrating the Ballon d’Or ceremony taking place on the eve of a round of women’s international games was not “planned a little bit better”.
The England and Bayern Munich midfielder is among the nominees but will not be at Monday evening’s ceremony in Paris as she prepares for the Lionesses’ match against Belgium in Leuven, part of a busy schedule of Nations League fixtures on Tuesday.
Stanway, whose international team-mates Mary Earps, Millie Bright and Rachel Daly have also been shortlisted, told a press conference regarding her nomination: “It’s very cool, and nice to get the accolade as well as a lot of the team-mates in the Lionesses.
“There’s a few people I would also add to the list who have had very, very successful years. It’s a real achievement to be amongst those names.
“It’s unfortunate we couldn’t be there. That’s something we spoke as a player group (about), and we just kind of said it would be nice in the future if it wasn’t on a matchday minus one, so that we could enjoy the experience.
“It is (frustrating), because it’s potentially a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You never know if you’re ever going to get selected for such an accolade like that again, so it would be really nice to enjoy the experience and be there and feel like a star amongst the stars.
“If it was planned a little bit better, then maybe it would be easier for a lot of female footballers to be there.”
Asked for her thoughts on the matter, and on there only being one female Ballon d’Or category, England boss Sarina Wiegman added: “You hope that develops too.
“We talk about the planning now. Everyone is working so hard and of course we have to do a job, that’s what we’re here for.
“So you can’t attend that, and it would be really nice if things like that are organised so that players have the opportunity to join too.”
World Cup runners-up England head into Tuesday’s contest having beaten Belgium 1-0 at Leicester’s King Power Stadium on Friday in their third Nations League Group A1 match.
That followed a 2-1 win over Scotland and 2-1 loss to the Netherlands, and left them second in the pool, behind the Dutch on goal difference and two points ahead of third-placed Belgium.
England need to finish top if they are to have a chance of securing a Paris 2024 Olympics qualification spot for Great Britain.
Wiegman’s side scored only once despite dominating for much of Friday’s contest, and she said: “I was happy with how we played. I think we could have made it a little easier but I thought how we wanted to play in and out of possession, we did really well.
“What we want to do is be a little better in the final third – create chances, but the final pass, the final decision and execution, we want to do better.”
Stanway – without a goal in her last nine England appearances – said: “We just need to get it across the line, it’s as simple as that.
“It’s just those fine margins I feel like is the difference between us going 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0. We have to take responsibility as players – I’ve not scored in a very long time, likewise there’s a few of us with a bit of a goal rut. So we’ll hopefully be able to fix that tomorrow.
“We just need to continue doing what we’re doing. We’re getting one and one has been enough, but it would be nice to be more comfortable within games.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub