In world football, the federations have the custom of rewarding the best player of each game with medals, diplomas, statuettes and other elements, mostly symbolic. Players like Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowsky and Cristiano Ronaldo have added hundreds of plates that rest in their showcases.
However, in a Zambian League match a curious fact happened: player Kennedy Musonda was the highlight of the game, scoring Power Dynamos’ winning goal against Kitwe Derby in the Zambian Super League. Mosunda was awarded five baskets of eggs.
In most cases, it is the sponsors who provide this type of recognition. How many baskets of eggs would Lionel Messi have won in his entire career if the leagues where he has played had been sponsored by a poultry company? Surely they would be innumerable and would serve to calm the hunger of countless people, especially in African territory. Although it also remains to reflect on whether it is really necessary to accumulate so many statuettes in the closet, which only feeds the ego, knowing that there is so much hunger in the world.
This has not been the first time that there have been curious awards in World soccer. In particular, the African territory has had the particularity of giving quite striking distinctions. In the Zimbabwean League it is a tradition to give the player of the month an anchete with products from the family basket. In addition, in the Uganda Super League they are not far behind, the best player in each match is given a liter of yogurt and a large bread, the players pose happily and take these basic supplies home with them.
a special connotation
This continent has historically been affected by the rate of poverty that plagues the population, every day hunger worsens, according to the portal Save the Children 1.4 million people in that territory are on the verge of famine and although the causes are very varied, the connotation that food has is something that transcends luxury.
World stars sprout from that land, such as Didier Drogba at the time and Sadio Mané, a Bayern Munich player, in current football, professionals whose characteristics are simplicity and humility. Despite earning large salaries, they are aware of the needs that millions of people in that continent experience daily due to climate change, the effects of Covid-19 and the internal conflicts that are experienced in each country. That is why the food there is invaluable, hence the prizes that are given in soccer: they are a very important symbol. tremendous gift.
It has also been seen in Europe
These curious awards reached Europe: in 2019, Martín Odegard, who at that time was a member of the Royal Society of Spain, received a giant fish from a supermarket in San Sebastián, after being the player of the month.
There were also recognitions that ignited the controversies, since in 2021 Paraguayan soccer was being sponsored by Casa Tramontina, a kitchen utensils company. Dahiana Bogarín, Olimpia player from Paraguay, received a set of pots in recognition for being the most outstanding player in the game. The prize was the focus of claims by a sector of the Guarani country, who were reluctant to allow the girls to pose next to a set of pots, which they called demeaning and sexist. Given this, the company began to give this same gift to men. The first was the goalkeeper Alfredo Aguilar, who received a set of pots after a brilliant performance in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores, being the figure in the penalty shootout against Internacional de Portoalegre and gave them a pass to the quarterfinals. .
In Colombia there is a recent case. Independiente Medellín, a team that is sponsored by Colanta, in 2022 gave an ancheta of cheeses to the most outstanding player of the game. The action sparked outrage on social media.
In Peru they were given a coffin
In an amateur tournament held in the southern Andean region of Puno, Peru’s border with Bolivia, the best three teams in the championship were awarded with coffins, the tournament was organized by funeral companies.
In Poland the prize was a chicken
The Europeans are not far behind, as a footballer from Gornik Zabrze, a team that plays in the highest category of Polish football, was given a chicken in recognition of his good performance.
5 GB of data as a reward
In South Africa Hlompho Kekana of the Mamelodi Sundowns was named the MVP of the match and the sponsors rewarded him with 5 GigaBytes of internet for his mobile.
In England, flowers were the gift
In the English country, an Arsenal player was given a bouquet of flowers and a portable refrigerator to celebrate her good performance in the match. According to her face, did she like the gift or not?
2002
Fifa began to award the best man of the match by popular vote.
