Ballon d’Or ceremony: Alexia Putellas makes history, Real Madrid men’s players take offense and boos for Mbappé?
As the Real Madrid men’s player of the year, the French-born Alexia Putellas feels a bit like a winner now that she is a Real player and not another one of the players she was competing with.
“I never thought I would be in the position I’m at right now,” Putellas told FIFA.com during the Real Madrid team’s presentation at the Giannina Foundation World XI of the Year awards, held Sunday at the Parc de Princes in Barcelona.
“At the beginning I was so busy. I was always thinking about playing. It happened when I was not playing and was not thinking about football. I think I was always working for this project. I always believed I could be a better player.
“For example, the [coach] Jorge Valdano always said to me, ‘You can be as good as you want to be,’ and when I was not feeling so good, he always said the same thing. So I’ve done a lot of work to reach this moment.”
While she was not involved in the club’s preparations for Euro 2016 due to her role with Nike, the 27-year-old played a major part in last season’s club title-winning campaign, particularly in her role as forward.
And Putellas remains humble and happy about her achievements, but not about how she was viewed by media and fans.
“It’s not about how people treat you. It’s how you view yourself. There’s no point in complaining.”
Real Madrid’s new record signing, Antoine Griezmann, also believes that what he feels is important.
“You have a responsibility to be the best version of yourself, and I think what was said about the first goal was really positive,” said Griezmann, who has signed a new five-year contract with the club following his move from Atletico Madrid.
“After that, his celebration was really good, but also a lot of people criticized him because he didn’t have a goal and he wasn’t scoring.”
Despite criticism, Griezmann has seen his goalscoring record improve this summer, which would have
