For taking, they have even taken the award for the best fans in the world. Argentina has devastated tonight in Paris at the gala of the FIFA The Best Awards with the awards that have been granted to Leo Messi (best player), Emiliano Back Martínez (best goalkeeper) and Lionel Scaloni (best coach). There have been no surprises at a gala that has been as predictable as it was boring, with hardly any anecdotes.
On the other side of the coin was the Real Madridthe big loser of the night, despite the great year 2022 experienced by the whites with four titles to their credit: Champions League, League, European Super Cup and Spanish Super Cup. Karim Benzemawho was competing for the best player award, and Thibaut Courtois, to the best goalkeeper, have ended up leaving empty; if anything, a minor consolation like appearing in the ideal eleven chosen by the world players union FIFPro, which also included another white player, Luke Modric. Three white players in an eleven without a Spanish presence as Barcelona players Pedri and Gavi were left out.
The same can be said of Charles Ancelottiwho aspired to the award for best coach, together with Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), in an award that has gone to the figure of Scaloni. In the end, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has ended up weighing heavily and the Albiceleste has been the great winner after having won the third World Cup in its history a couple of months ago, after those of Argentina’78 and Mexico’86.
At Real Madrid they still do not give credit to all the contempt for the club because the figure of a footballer like Vinicius Junior —”the most decisive footballer in world football”, in the words of Ancelotti—, who was decisive in the conquest of the last titles for the team coached by Carlo Ancelotti, such as LaLiga, the Champions League or the recent Club World Cup (already played in 2023 ) and that he was left out of the list of 26 nominees for the ideal eleven of 2022 announced by FIFPro a few weeks ago.
Alexia Putellas, the best in the world
Spanish football has been delighted with the appointment of the midfielder Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona) as the best player in the world. The Catalan, also winner of the Ballon d’Or in November 2021, of The Best award in January 2022 and who last year won the treble in Spain and was runner-up in Europe with Barça, has prevailed in the final vote for the English forward Beth Mead (Arsenal), champion with her country of the Eurocup and MVP of the tournament, and American forward Alex Morgan, currently in the San Diego Wave of the NWSL of her country.
The gala began with a heartfelt tribute to the figure of the deceased Edson Arantes do Nascimento, ‘Pele’and also recognized the Polish Marcin Oleksy —with the peculiarity of having scored it in a league in his country for amputee soccer players and that he lost his left leg in a work accident— with the Puskas Award for the best goal of 2022.
