Aytana Bonmati received the 2022/23 UEFA Player of the Year award this Thursday after a dream season with Barcelona and Spain, while Dutch coach Sarina Wigman, England women’s football team coach, was named best coach.
Bonmati, 25, won the Champions League with the Catalan club and the World Cup with La Roja, beating compatriot Olga Carmona and Australian Sam Kerr.
In addition, the Spanish midfielder has already been recognized as the best player in the women’s “Championship” and the World Cup, which was recently held in Australia and New Zealand.
Wigman, who defeated Jorge Wilda (Spain) and Jonathan Giraldes (FC Barcelona), led England to victory in the European Championship and the World Cup final.
“This season I will never forget and I want to share it with all my teammates. Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Bonmati said at the beginning after receiving the award at a ceremony that took place at the Grimaldi Forum. in Monaco.
Although he never once mentioned the name of Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish federation, who is currently suspended, the FC Barcelona player decided to address the case around the leader and the historic victory at the World Cup.
“As a society, we must not tolerate abuse of power in working relationships or lack of respect. These are not good times. We just won the World Cup, but there is not much talk about it, because things are happening that I would not like. let it happen,” he said.
This theme was also part of Sarina Wigman’s speech, who dedicated the award to Spain, the team that defeated England in the final of the last World Cup (1-0).
“I would like to dedicate this award to the Spanish national team, a team that played great football and that everyone liked. It should be a moment of celebration, but unfortunately it doesn’t. We still have a long way to go. women’s category,” the 53-year-old coach emphasized.
The winners of the UEFA awards are selected by a jury of coaches and journalists after an initial pre-selection by the UEFA Technical Study Group according to their merit.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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