UEFA
Who won the 2022/23 UEFA Men’s Player and Coach of the Year awards?
Manchester City duo Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne were shortlisted for Player of the Year, alongside Argentine World Cup winner Lionel Messi.
The winners of the UEFA Men’s Player and Coach of the Year awards were announced at the 2023/24 Champions League group stage draw on Thursday evening.
There was delight for Manchester City as Erling Haaland and Pep Guardiola scooped the top men’s awards at the ceremony in Monaco.
Haaland was named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year, while his City coach was awarded UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year after leading his team to a historic treble.
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The awards celebrate the finest achievements in European football over the previous season, with performances at “both club and national team level” being considered by the UEFA jury.
The UEFA jury is comprised of elite coaches and journalists selected by European Sports Media (ESM), who were each asked to pick the top three players from the 2022/23 season.
Who were the nominees for the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award?
Unsurprisingly the treble-winning Manchester City side were heavily represented in the rankings, with four of the top five players starring for City during 22/23.
The nominees were then whittled down to a shortlist of three: Erling Haaland, Kevin de Bruyne and Lionel Messi.
After winning the award, Haaland said: “This was my dream when I was young. I’m really happy and it gives me so much motivation to keep on working.”
In descending order, the rest of the top ten was: İlkay Gündoğan, Rodri, Kylian Mbappé, Luka Modrić, Marcelo Brozović, Declan Rice and Alexis Mac Allister.
Who were the nominees for the UEFA Men’s Coach of the Year award?
As was the case with the players’ category, coaches and journalists from around Europe were asked to pick the three best performers from the 22/23 season. A three-man shortlist was published ahead of the award ceremony on Thursday.
There was more City representation with Pep Guardiola picking up UEFA’s top award for coaches. Also on the podium were Simone Inzaghi, who played Guardiola’s side in the Champions League final, and Napoli boss Luciano Spalleti.
In descending order, the rest of the top ten was: Roberto De Zerbi, Mikel Arteta, Zlatko Dalić, José Luis Mendilibar, Didier Deschamps David Moyes and Franck Haise.