The most curious votes of 'The Best'

   MADRID, 28 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Argentine Leo Messi won this Monday the FIFA 'The Best' award for the best player of 2022, after adding a support of 52 points, ahead of the French Kylian Mbappé (44) and Karim Benzema (34), the latter also a favorite theoretician for lifting his fifth Champions League -scoring 15 goals-, as well as LaLiga Santander, the Spanish and European Super Cups, and the current Ballon d'Or, who had to settle for the 'bronze' at the gala.

Captains and coaches of national teams and the media rewarded Messi's performance and crucial role in embroidering the third star for the Argentine team in the World Cup that was played at the end of 2022. In the tournament in Qatar, the '10' celebrated 7 goals, with a double in the final, and also collected the 'Golden Ball' of the World Cup that accredited him as the best player of the event.

Regarding the voting, it consists of two parts, since first it is a FIFA "group of experts" who 'limits' the candidates, to obtain a list of the eleven best players, the five best goalkeepers and the five best coaches. . Then, in a second phase, the captains of the 211 soccer teams that are members of FIFA, the selectors of those teams, a journalist for each team and the fans on FIFA.com vote. They can give five points to the most voted, three to the second and one to the third.

Thus, the Argentine was 'The Best' for Harry Kane (England), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands), Martin Odegaard (Norway), Sergio Busquets (Spain) or Diego Godín (Uruguay), among Many others. Also for Real Madrid player David Alaba (Austria), who had to explain why Benzema was not his first choice for the prestigious award.

"The Austrian team decides the votes for this award as a team, not just me. Anyone in the squad was able to vote and we proceeded. Everyone knows, and especially Karim, how much I admire him and his performances. And I have already said on several occasions that for me he is the best striker in the world; that he still is. Without a doubt," the Real Madrid defender said on social media.

Messi also participated in the vote as captain of the 'Albiceleste' and his votes went to his teammates in the French PSG Neymar and Mbappé, as first and second, respectively, leaving Benzema in the third step. A formula that his coach, Lionel Scaloni, did not follow, who gave his votes to '10', to Julián Álvarez and, finally, to the Croatian captain and Real Madrid player, Luka Modric. The merengue player, contrary to Alaba, did give his five points to the white 'nine', ahead of Messi and Mbappé.

The goal Hugo Llorís, captain of France, finalist in Qatar, like his coach, Didier Deschamps, rewarded his compatriots Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema -absent in the World Cup-, leaving the third step for the one who would be the winner of the night: Lionel Messi.

Another of the curiosities was the absence in the 'Top 10' of the Brazilian Vinicius Júnior, one of the sensations of world football despite his youth. The Real Madrid winger received a total of 10 points, including that of Egyptian Mohamed Salah, his rival last year in the Champions League final against Liverpool.

Thus, the top ten places in 'The Best' are made up of Messi (52), Mbappé (44), Benzema (34), Modric (28), Erling Haaland (24), Sadio Mané (19), Julián Álvarez (17) , Achraf Hakimi (15), Neymar (13) and Kevin De Bruyne (10). And the aforementioned Vinicius, Jude Bellingham, Robert Lewandowski and Mohamed Salah, among others, are left out.

In the women's category of the award, the blaugrana Alexia Putellas returned to 'reign' with her second consecutive 'The Best'. As expected, despite the conflict that remains in the Spanish team, the coach, Jorge Vilda, and the captain, Ivana Andrés, gave their five points to Putellas and three to Aitana Bonmatí. While in third place Vilda opted for the English Beath Mead and Andrés, for the Norwegian Ada Hegerberg.

The Barça player also collected the highest scores from the Australian captain, Sam Kerr; the Ukrainian coach and former Barça coach, Lluís Cortés; or the Spanish coach of Scotland, Pedro Martínez Losa. A support that allowed her to rise to first place with 50 points, followed by the American Alex Morgan (37) and the English Beth Mead to complete the 'podium'. Bonmatí finished the fifth vote (29).