Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric both voted for the same player to win the 2021 Kopa Trophy, awarded at the Ballon d'Or ceremony to the best young player of the year worldwide.
The former Real Madrid teammates both picked Manchester United's Mason Greenwood as the deserving winner. Greenwood has opted to avoid international football in 2021. However, his Manchester United performances have been impressive, and his goals at the beginning of this season in particular may have actually kept Ole Gunnar Solskjær in a job for longer than he otherwise might have been.
The eventual winner was Barcelona's midfielder Pedri, who was so composed in the middle of the park for both the Catalan giants and the Spanish national team that he ended up featuring in a ridiculous 75 matches for club and country last season alone. He did so aged 17 and 18.
Ronaldo nevertheless voted for United teammate Greenwood as the winner, and placed Portugal teammate Nuno Mendes second. Borussia Dortmund and USA starlet Giovanni Reyna was his third choice.
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2018 Ballon d'Or winner Modric elected for Greenwood too, while Pedri was his runner up. He placed another Englishmen in his top three by selecting Jude Bellingham as his third choice.
The Kopa Trophy was first introduced in 2018, and its inaugural winner was, perhaps inevitably, Kylian Mbappé, who became the first teenage scorer in a World Cup final since none other than Pelé. Matthijs de Ligt then won the 2019 edition, before the 2020 version was cancelled along with the Ballon d'Or because of the pandemic.
Pedri won this year with 89 points. Bellingham and Jamal Musiala came in at third and fourth with 39 and 38 votes respectively.
It differs from the annual Golden Boy award because it is open to players who play outside of Europe.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Pedri, Jude Bellingham, Mason Greenwood, Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric
