After the trouble at the Ballon d’Or, Vinícius Júnior can still celebrate. The Brazilian was honored as a world footballer at the Fifa gala dinner in Doha and succeeded superstar Lionel Messi. In October he had to give way to the Spanish European champion Rodri at the Ballon d’Or, which caused great anger at his club Real Madrid.
As in the previous year, Aitana Bonmatí from Champions League winners FC Barcelona triumphed in the women’s category. FIFA only announced the timing of the award, which took place on the eve of the Intercontinental Cup between Real Madrid and CF Pachuca, at short notice. German players and the Bundesliga only played a minor role in the awarding of the prize. Rio world champion Toni Kroos, who retired in the summer, and Florian Wirtz from double winner Bayer Leverkusen were on the shortlist of the eleven best players, but did not make it into the top three. Kroos and ex-Real colleague Antonio Rüdiger were at least voted into the team of the year. “This makes the last successful year even more special,” said Kroos in a video message.
Xabi Alonso has to give way to Carlo Ancelotti
Leverkusen’s master coach Xabi Alonso had to give way to the Italian maestro Carlo Ancelotti from premier class winner Real Madrid in the election for world coach. The German goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger also didn’t make it to the top when it came to being voted world goalkeeper. The American Alyssa Naeher won. In the men’s category, Argentina’s world champion goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez was honored.
In October, the choice of the Ballon d’Or at Real Madrid caused great anger. The club stayed away from the ceremony at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris after it was leaked that no Real player would receive the coveted trophy. Even there, Vinícius Júnior was the big favorite to win. After all, he had won the championship and the premier class with Real. But the star striker, who has been the victim of racism several times in Spain, is not without controversy. His tendency towards theatrics also provokes criticism.
Fifa has been honoring world footballers since 1991; the only German winner in the same year was Lothar Matthäus, who this time presented the team of the year. Between 2010 and 2015, FIFA entered into a cooperation with the Amaury Group, during which time the world footballer prize was awarded as the “Fifa Ballon d’Or”. Since then, there have been two prizes for the best footballer. National coaches, national team captains, journalists and fans worldwide voted in the Fifa election.
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