Manchester City’s Erling Haaland of Norway received the 2022/23 UEFA Player of the Year award this Thursday, while Spaniard Pep Guardiola was named the best manager for leading the City to their first-ever Champions League.
In a ceremony held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, striker Haaland beat fellow Belgian Kevin De Bruyne and Argentinian Lionel Messi and, at the age of 22, for the first time in a season in which he scored 52 goals in all competitions, including a new Premier League record ( 36). He was also the top scorer in previous Champions League editions with 12 goals.
“I live the dream. It was my dream when I was young. Doing it with my teammates is something special. I am very happy and it gives me great motivation to keep working to win more trophies. I’m very happy,” Haaland said as he received the award from UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
Pep Guardiola, who missed the ceremony as he was recovering from back surgery, beat the Italians Simone Inzaghi (Inter Milan) and Luciano Spalletti (Naples) and again won the award (he received it in the 2008/09 and 2010/11 seasons) . after a near-perfect season at Manchester City, in which the Portuguese Ruben Dias, João Cancelo and Bernardo Silva meet.
In addition to an unprecedented Champions League title, the Catalan coach has led the English emblem to Premier League and FA Cup titles, completing a so-called treble.
“I admit that sometimes Pep is a little scary when he yells at me. But I like it. He’s trying something in my brain that he thinks I don’t have. He’s trying to make me an even better player,” Haaland admitted.
The winners of the UEFA awards are selected by a jury of coaches and journalists after the UEFA Technical Study Group conducts an initial pre-selection of nominees according to their merit.
At the same ceremony, historic former Germany international Miroslav Klose, now a coach, received the 2023 UEFA President’s Award for “outstanding achievement” as a player, as well as for “professional and personal achievement” and “fair play” demonstrated in an entire career.
Klose is the all-time leading World Cup scorer (16), in addition to winning the title with Germany in 2014, and has been the protagonist of several episodes in defense of sports truth throughout his career.
First in 2005, when with Werder Bremen, he had the referee cancel a penalty in his favor, suggesting that he had “dived”, and years later at Lazio, he asked the match referee to cancel the penalty. goal with a hand on the ball.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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