The winners of 2022 The FIFA Best Awards were not immune to the usual round of discussion and controversy that attends each individual award ceremony. In any case, once the greatest career of the 21st century reached its zenith, few would begrudge Lionel Messi his success.
The majority of national media members and international coaches and captains weigh in on the decision. However, new Spain manager Luis de la Fuente did not regard the Argentine superstar's success as adequate to be crowned 'The Best' nevertheless.
The new coach of the Spanish national team, who took over for Luis Enrique, has chosen Messi's colleague and Manchester City striker Julian Alvarez as the finest player in the world in 2022. Thus, several Spaniards have questioned the new La Roja manager's vote selections for the prize.
Watch: Why did Spain manager vote for Julian Alvarez at The Best FIFA 2022?
According to a previous report from Cadena SER, the 61-year-old ranked Jude Bellingham of Borussia Dortmund in second and Luka Modric of Real Madrid in third. Now we know the experienced manager's ridiculously entertaining justification for his final votes.
"Why did I vote for Julian Alvarez at The Best Awards? Because I like him and he is the World Champion, right? I don't drink, so I was calmly serene (while voting). Messi is the greatest, of course. But I wanted to vote for Julian. Heh..”, De la Fuente explained his decision in a press conference.
