​Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal explains why he deserves the Ballon d’Or: ‘Everyone who watches knows’Lamine Yamal has made his case for the Ballon d’Or in typically confident fashion, naming himself alongside Kylian Mbappe as one of the two players he believes stand above the rest this year.The Barcelona forward made the claim in a preview of his upcoming interview with Universo Valdano, shortly after scoring twice against Valencia. With the Ballon d’Or ceremony scheduled for 26 October in London, Yamal was asked who he would give the award to.“Who would I give it to? The best player in the world. Who are they going to give it to? “Honestly, as the best in the world, I think there might be two of us, me and Mbappe, but I think this year I’d deserve it for what I’ve achieved. “Everyone who watches the matches knows that,” the Barça forward said.Yamal points to trophy-laden seasonLamine Yamal has made a strong case for himself. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)There is a substantial body of work behind the 19-year-old’s confidence. Yamal helped Barcelona win La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup last season while setting new personal scoring benchmarks, finishing with 24 goals and 18 assists.His international campaign brought another major honour, with Spain lifting the World Cup. Yet Yamal admits the tournament did not leave him satisfied with his own contribution.“After winning the World Cup, I wasn’t happy. It’s true about the injury, but that’s got nothing to do with it. “I know that if the World Cup were to come around again, I’d have performed just as well if I hadn’t had the injury. I did a lot of things that people didn’t see. For example, I think it’s incredible for a manager to have a player who can draw three defenders away, but I wasn’t happy with my own performance because I know that another player performing at my level would have had a great World Cup.Lamine Yamal feels he can win the Ballon d’Or this year. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)“But for me, I could have done more. I did help the team, but I’m really looking forward to the next one,” argued the Barça striker.A hunger that shows no sign of fadingYamal has already collected an extraordinary list of honours for a player who is still only 19: a European Championship, a World Cup, three La Liga titles, two Spanish Super Cups and a Copa del Rey.His message is that those achievements have not reduced his ambition. If anything, they have raised the standard he expects from himself.“There have been great stars in football, like Leo, Cristiano or Diego – whom I haven’t been able to watch – but never so early on has anyone won so much. “Take Pele, for example – he did win a lot at a young age, but not so recently. “And there are people who think that just because I’ve won things at some point, I’ll take my foot off the gas, but I know I’ve got a thousand things to do to go down in football history,