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Featured Image Credit: Alamy & France Football
Topics: Ballon d'Or, Lionel Messi
Josh Lawless
The Ballon d'Or is widely considered to be the most prestigious individual prize for footballers but what if you add the word 'Super' in front of it?
Lionel Messi is expected to win the Ballon d'Or for the eighth time in Paris on Monday evening after leading Argentina to their first World Cup since 1986.
His triumph continues his complete and utter dominance of the award but the Super Ballon d'Or is one exclusive accolade that Messi hasn't got his hands on.
The rare award has only been given out to one player in history, having been received by the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano back in 1989.
To mark the 30th anniversary of the France Football magazine, the outlet announced the Super Ballon d'Or, which was only applicable to European players.
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This ruled out the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona.
Though Real icon Di Stefano played for both Argentina and Colombia at international level, he qualified through his Spanish citizenship.
The award went to the best player of the last three decades and Di Stefano, who scored 308 goals for Real and played an integral role in five consecutive European Cup wins between 1956 and 1960, pipped legends like Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini to the gong following votes from journalists and previous Ballon d'Or winners.
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Di Stefano won two Ballon d'Ors in 1957 and 1959 but then went one better 30 years on.
The trophy looks a lot similar to the Ballon d'Or but has a number of gold mini footballs bearing resemblance to Ferrero Rocher chocolates at the base.
The one-of-a-kind award was stationed at the Real Madrid Museum at the Santiago Bernabeu for years but then went to auction in London in September 2021 as part of a 'Property from the estate of Alfredo Di Stefano' event alongside other iconic memorabilia from his decorated career.
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As per Julien's auctions, the trophy sold for a whopping £187,500.
There has been some talk that a second Super Ballon d'Or could be handed out in 2029, with Messi unsurprisingly the clear favourite.