Confusion about World Cup when voting for FIFA The Best 2023

According to Portugal coach Roberto Martinez, he and many others made a mistake when voting for FIFA The Best 2023 - a controversial award when it was awarded to Lionel Messi instead of Erling Haaland.

Martinez explained his decision to vote for midfielder Marcelo Brozovic to win The Best 2023 because he did not know whether his achievements at the 2022 World Cup would count. Brozovic had a successful 2022-2023 season, when he won third place at the World Cup with Croatia and won the Italian Cup, Italian Super Cup with Inter, and reached the Champions League final.

"It was a mistake," Martinez told Portuguese newspaper A Bola when asked about voting for Brozovic. "For me, individual awards in football are very difficult. I think the individual player represents the team. What about Brozovic and Bernardo Silva, as well as the players who have reached the Champions League final and won domestic titles? Brozovic represents the idea of the team, what Croatia is doing. But I was confused by the voting period."

Coach Roberto Martinez (red shirt, right) briefs Ronaldo (far left) and Portugal players before the Euro 2024 qualifying match against Slovakia in Group A. Photo: AFP

Martinez believes others have made the same mistake, choosing to vote based on a candidate's performance at the 2022 World Cup, as evidenced by Messi winning FIFA's The Best award despite having a more lackluster 2023 than Haaland. "I don't think I'm the only one who makes that mistake," the Portugal coach said. "When you see the votes, I think a lot of people are more interested in the World Cup."

According to the results announced at The Best awards ceremony in London on the evening of January 15, Messi and Haaland had the same total score of 48. However, the Argentine striker won thanks to more votes from the captains of the men's teams, according to the regulations in Article 12 of the voting rules previously issued by FIFA.

Messi's win is a surprising result, because the FIFA The Best 2023 award considers achievements from December 19, 2022 to August 20, 2023. Achievements at the 2022 World Cup - the tournament that ended on December 18, 2022 with the championship belonging to Argentina, are outside the voting scope.

During this time, Messi played 37 matches, scored 26 goals and assisted 12 times for PSG, Argentina and Inter Miami. Meanwhile, Haaland shone with 36 goals in 44 matches, contributing greatly to Man City winning a historic treble with the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and then continuing to win the European Super Cup. The Norwegian striker also destroyed a series of records and won many individual titles, including the Best Player, the Best Young Player of the Premier League 2022-2023 awarded by the tournament organizers and the European Golden Shoe, the title awarded to the player who scored the most goals in the national championships.

Lionel Messi trains with Inter Miami at the Florida Blue training ground in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 13, 2024. Photo: AFP

Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has branded FIFA's The Best a "laughing stock", while German football legend Lothar Matthaus believes Messi does not deserve to win this year's award. The German legend stressed that Haaland's contributions to Man City's historic treble - including Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup - overshadowed Messi's achievements.

Cristiano Ronaldo - the top scorer of 2023 but not nominated for The Best - believes the award is losing credibility. "The numbers are the reality," the Portuguese striker said.

Meanwhile, Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said the controversy surrounding whether Messi deserves to win the FIFA best men's player award in 2023 is redundant.

"I think the debate goes beyond football, I don't think there is a debate between players or coaches about why Messi won the award," Scaloni told Spanish newspaper Marca . "That's for the media. If Haaland or Kylian Mbappe won the award, it would be fine. To debate why Messi won the award when the players and coaches voted for it is strange."

Hong Duy

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