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The best FIFA football awards
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- Bayern duo Lewandowski and Neuer win The Best FIFA men’s player and goalkeeper award
- Klopp once again chooses the Best FIFA Men’s Coach
- Read what the award winners said
The Best FIFA Football Awards ™ had a very German feel this year, at least when it comes to the men’s categories, with Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Manuel Neuer, a five-time winner, chosen as the best player in FIFA and the best male Goalkeeper player.
On top of that, Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool) was voted FIFA’s Best Male Coach for the second year in a row, the first person to achieve such a feat.
Following the award ceremony in Zurich, the three aforementioned winners, as well as the FIFA Puskás award for the best goal of the year, Son Heungmin, spoke to the press.
Best FIFA Male Player: Robert Lewandowski
“This really is something. Messi and Ronaldo have been playing at the highest level for years and now I’m rubbing shoulders with them. This means that all the hard work has paid off. I wouldn’t have done it without the team.” They are the ones who create the situations for me. It will take a while for me to absorb what I have accomplished and I think I will have a hard time sleeping tonight. But I am very happy. because it is an award that recognizes the entire team. Winning an award after so many years as a Bayern player is really something special. It has been a long time coming to the club. I hope we can end up shaping an era in football. We have good young players and we are ready to step up, face great challenges and win more titles. The team is working well and is heading in the right direction.
Regardless of how many titles you have won, it will never be enough. I’m already looking towards the next trophies, that’s my mentality and the mentality of the whole team. Winning a title once is difficult, winning it twice is even more difficult. I hope we can celebrate with our fans next year. It was just a great year. Staying on top is difficult, but that’s what we want to do. I would like to thank all the members of the coaching staff and all my teammates; I could never have done it without them. It’s hard to find the right words. I am very proud.
When I was a young player, I always saw Ronaldo and Romario, they were the big names. Brazil always had great forwards and I learned a lot from watching them. I always followed whoever was wearing the 9, 10 or 11 yellow jersey. I would tell my 16-year-old self that you can always play well, no matter where you’re from. “
The best male goalkeeper in FIFA: Manuel Neuer
“This was without a doubt the best year of my career, what we achieved was incredible. Last summer in Lisbon was particularly spectacular. It is difficult for all of us at the moment not to have fans in the stadiums. We have a great mentality in our team, we play for our fans and we do our best in every game.
You cannot compare individual awards with winning titles with the team. For me, the team’s achievements are more important because you can celebrate them with the entire squad. I will sleep at home tonight, but when you celebrate with the team, it is something special because you delight in everything you have worked for in the past year.
They put me in goal for the first time when I was four years old. We did not have a goalkeeper and, as we trained in a field of red ash, nobody wanted to enter the goal. So I had to do it, because I was the last kid to join. I did a good job and after that, I was there forever. German football has had great goalkeepers over the years: Sepp Maier, Toni Schumacher, Oliver Kahn at home, but also Buffon and Van der Saar. There have been so many amazing goalkeepers and that makes this award even more special. “
Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Jurgen Klopp
“I have so many people I would like to thank, in particular my coaching staff. If I had thought for a moment that I was going to win tonight, I would have brought them all here with me. I have a world-class team and many strong people to come. around me, so it is everyone’s duty to do their best.No one should worry about me getting tired, but there are no guarantees of success.
Many people may have been quite surprised by tonight’s awards, and I thought Hansi Flick could win it as Bayern had such an incredible season. However, we are very proud. It is a great honor and I can hardly believe it. I have the utmost respect for Marcelo Bielsa, he’s doing an incredible job with Leeds, but Hansi Flick would have been a worthy winner too. He is also doing great things and I have a lot of respect for both of them. Bielsa is one of the best coaches in world football. He has an incredible brain and is an outstanding coach. “
FIFA Puskás Award Winner: Son Heungmin
“I have incredible emotions related to this goal and this award. It was a wonderful goal, but collecting this award makes me incredibly grateful. I would like to thank everyone who voted for me.”
