World champions Argentina picked up the big prizes at the 2022 Best FIFA Awards last night in Paris as the player, manager and goalkeeper awards all went to the Albiceleste.
Ligue 1 and the Premier League were both represented as Paris Saint-Germain star Lionel Messi and Aston Villa’s Emi Martinez both picked up personal awards, while Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni also won his prize.
It was no more than the trio deserved after they jointly masterminded Argentina’s triumph in Qatar and the FIFA celebration capped off a memorable year for this passionate football nation.
World Cup winner Messi is the man of the moment on the world football stage. As the most capped player with the most goals for his country, he has become elevated to the status of the best players of all time, alongside his country man the great Diego Maradona, who led the Albiceleste to the 1986 World Cup.
With a record seven Ballon d’Ors, the little genius can claim to be the best of his generation and it will have pleased his fans no end that he saw off a challenge from PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe to win this prize.
The soap opera at Paris Saint-Germain has dominated the recent headlines and Messi has been at the centre of it, mediating between the two huge egos of Mbappe and Neymar.
The Argentine star has shown more class than his squabbling pals and helps to hold the team together. The odds are backing the Parisiens to defend their title, and with two Best FIFA finalists in their ranks, that’s no surprise.
But just as it was Messi’s moment in Qatar, he has seen off his club-mate again.
Real Madrid hitman Karim Benzema was the third player on the list and he too had an incredible year, scoring 15 goals in the Champions League and firing Los Blancos to the La Liga title. The SBOTOP odds back Barcelona for the 2023 title, but a fit again Benzema has other ideas.
Oleksy wins the Puskas Award for the most spectacular goal
Polish amputee Marcin Oleksy beat Olympique Marseille skipper Dimitri Payer and Brazil star Richarlison to the Puskas Award, in recognition of his incredible overhead kick for his team Warta Poznan.
The brilliantly athletic piece of action went viral on social media and it’ll be featured in the FIFA 2023 highlights, and Oleksy received a message of support from countryman Robert Lewandowski.
The delighted player said: “I connected really cleanly. It was pure. When I hit it I was following the ball all the way with my eyes and I saw it go into the corner of the net.”
The scissor kick sparked wild celebration from his tea-mates and supporters. “I always wanted to score a beautiful goal,” said Oleksy. “You could see how proud it made me. I stood up tall, I put my chest out. I was just so, so happy.”
It was a shot the best men’s goalkeeper would have struggled to keep out, though Emi Martinez’ heroics for Argentina in the World Cup won him the keeper’s prize at the FIA gala event.
The Aston Villa stopper dominated the shootout in the World Cup final, outsmarting the France players and his celebrations at the end of the drama will long be remembered.
Martinez, who was backed by the FIFA 2023 odds to win, edged out Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois and Sevilla’s Yassine Bounou, who also had a fantastic World Cup with semi-finalists Morocco.
And Argentina’s clean sweep was completed by Lionel Scaloni who won the best head coach award. He was up against Los Blancos’ boss Carlo Ancelotti, another Real Madrid representative to narrowly miss out, and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who had just led the Sky Blues to a fourth Premier League title in five seasons.
But the pinnacle of any coach’s career is to lead his nation to success and Scaloni skilfully guided Argentina to World Cup glory and he’ll forever be thanked for that the length and breadth of his nation. His calm leadership helped Messi and co. to recover from a group stage loss to Saudi Arabia and his players, backed by the most passionate fans at the tournament, gathered momentum as the competition progressed.
The final was a toss up between holders France and Scaloni’s Argentina and it turned out to be one of the greatest finals in history as the Albiceleste raced into a 2-0 lead only to be pegged back.
Messi scored his second of the game to make it 3-2 in extra time, but Mbappe completed his hat-trick with a late penalty to take the final to a shootout.
Step up Martinez.
There was never much doubt that the Villa keeper would do the job his boss wanted and all three of the main men have earned sporting immortality in their homeland.
Scaloni has tasted defeat just once in his past 43 matches as Argentina head coach and Messi paid this tribute, saying: “He leaves nothing to chance. He shows you every detail and then it happens.”
Vamos Argentina!
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