Football

Ballon d'Or 2019: Matthijs de Ligt beats Chukwueze, 8 others to win Kopa trophy

Monday, December 02, 2019 at 9:27 PM by Oluwatomiwa Babalola

- Ballon d'Or 2019 awards is currently ongoing in France

- Juventus star Matthijs de Ligt wins Kopa 2019 trophy

- The Dutchman becomes the second player after Mbappe to win the prize

Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt has been crowned the winner of the 2019 edition of the Kopa trophy during the Ballon d'Or awards in France.

The Dutchman beats off competition from Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze, Joao Felix of Atletico Madrid, Jadon Sancho and six others to clinch the prestigious award.

He becomes the second youngster to win the prize after Paris Saint Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, who won the maiden edition last December.

The 20-year-old joined the Old Lady in a five-year deal valued around €85.50 million deal in the summer from Ajax Amsterdam.

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His performances, which helped the Oranje Boys reach the semifinals of last season's Champions League and also helped them win the Netherlands league title attracted attention to him.

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Despite his defensive role, de Ligt scored six goals and one assist in all competitions for the Dutch topflight side before moving to Italy in August.

He has however continued his impressive displays for the Old Lady having scored once in 11 Serie A matches this term.

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The defender was also instrumental to his country's national team reaching the final of the maiden edition of the UEFA Nations League before losing to Portugal in the final.

De Ligt also outshined the likes of Borussia Dortmund forward Jadon Sancho, Everton's Moise Kean, Vinicius Jr among others.

Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid/Portugal)

Jadon Sancho (Dortmund/England)

Moise Kean (Everton/Italy)

Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal/Nigeria)

Kang-in Lee (Valencia/South Korea)

Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus/Netherlands)

Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid/Brazil)

Kai Havertz (Bayern Leverkusen/Germany)

Matteo Guendouzi (Arsenal/France)

Andriy Lunin (Real Valladolid/Ukraine)

Legit.ng earlier reported Liverpool goalkeeper, Alisson Becker, has been crowned winner of Yashin award for best goalkeeper at the Ballon d'Or award gala night on Monday, December 2, in Paris.