The Best Awardsare the annual recognition byFIFAto the top players and coaches in the world. Since January of 2017, this ceremony appeared as an alternative for theBallon d’OrwhenFrance Footballbroke their partnership with FIFA.
Undoubtedly, the most expected awardis the one forMen’s Player of the Year. That distinction has been won by stars such asCristiano Ronaldo(2016, 2017),Lionel Messi(2019), Robert Lewandowski (2020, 2021) and Luka Modric (2018).
However, considering everything that happened in the Qatar 2022World Cup, other awards will have a tremendous competition. In those categories, Emiliano Martinez could pull a major upset. Read here to find out the details.
The Best FIFA Awards: Emiliano Martinez is favorite to win Goalkeeper of the Year over Thibaut Courtois
Prior to the ceremony of the 2022 The Best FIFA Awards,a panel of experts selected the candidates in each category. It’s important to remember that this was a special year which included theWorld CupatQatar.
In the category of The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper, the finalists are: Emiliano Martinez (Argentina/Aston Villa), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium/Real Madrid) andYassine Bounou (Morocco/Sevilla). Martinez and Bounou were extraordinary in the World Cup, while Courtois’ accolades came at the club level.
According to a report from Diario ABC in Spain, Emiliano Martinez has been chosen as The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper of the year. For thousands of fans and experts, this comes as a big surprise considering Thibaut Courtois had an exceptional run in the knockout stages of the 2021-2022 Champions League. Without his interventions, it’s almost certain that Real Madrid wouldn’t have lifted the trophy.
So, if this report is true, controversy will ignite after The Best FIFA Awards. Though Emiliano Martinez was superb at the World Cup, with his penalty shoot-out polemic strategy against the Netherlands and the miraculous save against Kolo Muani in the final, many people believe that’s not enough compared to Thibaut Courtois’ campaignto win Champions League and La Liga.
