Ewa Pajor is the Polish women’s national football team captain and FC Barcelona superstar striker - broadly recognized as one of top female football players in the world.
Last month the Pole was announced the runner-up of this year's prestigious Ballon d'Or award, a long-standing France Football prize honoring last season's top football player in a sports journalists' vote.
Now, Pajor closes in on another global top honor - as for the first time in her career she made the FIFPro World 11 shortlist - an annual "Team of the Year" selection made by fellow players. Nearly 20,000 male players and over 6,500 female players cast their votes this year.
The nomination for Ewa Pajor is not surprising. In recent months, Poland's captain has been in great shape, scoring dozens of goals and winning more trophies - including the Champions League for the first time in her career. In the fight for the Ballon d'Or, she was second only to her recent colleague from Barcelona, Alexia Putellas.
A spot in the FIFPro Team of the Year would mark the breaking of yet another barrier for Pajor, as she has never before been even shortlisted for the honour. She was overlooked even last year, when she received the Gerd Müller Trophy for scoring the most goals in top leagues globally. Her absence from the World 11 final selection this time around would be highly surprising.
To date, Robert Lewandowski remains the only Pole to have been recognized in the FIFPro awards. He made the World 11 twice - in 2020 and 2021. This year, however, he has not been nominated.
The voting results will be announced on Monday, November 9.
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Source: TVP Sport, Weszlo.com