The choice to call Lionel Messi the FIFA Men’s Best Player of 2023 left many upset. Earlier, Cristiano Ronaldo had raised questions with the voting process that noticed Messi edge previous Manchester City’s treble-profitable striker Erling Haaland to say the distinguished accolade for the third time in his profession.
Spanish soccer supervisor Roberto Martinez has now shared his view on the controversial subject, saying that many like him who voted for the award weren’t conscious of the factors. According to the Portugal nationwide group head coach, there was confusion about whether or not achievements on the 2022 FIFA World Cup would have been counted. Martinez, who claims to have “made mistakes”, voted for Marcelo Brozovic, contemplating the Croatian midfielder’s commendable efficiency within the Qatar World Cup the place his group clinched the third spot.
During a latest interplay with A Bola, Roberto Martinez revealed that not solely he however another folks additionally made the identical error by giving extra significance to the multi-nation event, the place Messi guided Argentina to the FIFA World Cup title by defeating France within the last.
“It was a mistake. Now we have a lot of votes, we have a lot of elections. We have the FIFA player, The Best player, who has been there all season. The first time we had a World Cup in winter and the voting was strange because it was only for six months,” Martinez advised A Bola.
Martinez additionally feels that particular person awards ought to be meant to recognise these gamers, who’ve helped his groups obtain one thing. “For me, individual awards in football are difficult. I think the individual player represents what the team did. Brozovic is a player who represents an idea of the game, who represents what Croatia is doing. But it was a mistake, for the period in question,” the 50-yr-outdated defined.
Unlike the Ballon d’Or, the FIFA Best award didn’t have the 2022 World Cup in its voting standards. It took under consideration the stats of each participant between December 19, 2022, and August 20, 2023. Looking at his efficiency in that interval, Messi scored 9 targets for French giants Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) earlier than including 10 extra to the tally with Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Inter Miami. Meanwhile, Haaland netted a document 52 targets in all competitions final season and 30 of his strikes got here throughout that designated interval.
After the preliminary counting, Messi and Haaland have been tied at 48 factors. The Argentine legend, nevertheless, was declared the winner based mostly on extra first-alternative nominations from worldwide captains.
