Erling Haaland proudly held the trophy in his hands, smiled contentedly – and immediately announced further great deeds: After a breathtaking debut season in the Premier League, including a triple win and goal record, the Norwegian goal machine was voted the best player in Europe.
“I’m proud, I’m happy – I won the treble when I was just 22 years old,” said Haaland: “It was my dream when I was a kid. It’s something special. It gives me so much motivation to achieve even more. To collect more trophies, I am so happy.”
Haaland prevailed against his teammate and congenial assist provider Kevin De Bruyne and above all the Argentine world champion Lionel Messi. Messi excelled at the finals in Qatar, but his season at Paris St. Germain was mixed. The dribbling artist, who has already won the award three times, now plays for Inter Miami in the MLS.
After moving from Borussia Dortmund to the Sky Blues, Haaland immediately became the top scorer in the Premier League, with an outstanding tally of 36 goals in 35 games. With City he triumphed in the Champions League, the league and the English Cup. “Now even more eyes will be on us as a team and on me – but again: that just motivates me,” said Haaland.
In the women’s category, a Spaniard once again celebrated being voted Europe’s best player. Aitana Bonmati from FC Barcelona, who won the title with Spain at the World Cup in Australia a week and a half ago, prevailed against her compatriot Olga Carmona (Real Madrid) and Australia’s Sam Kerr (Chelsea FC).
The choice of coach was unsurprisingly won by City’s triple coach Pep Guardiola, who, according to Haaland, played a large part in Manchester’s success. “He’s always trying to make me and everyone else better players,” said the Norwegian: “If he sometimes has to yell at me until I understand what he wants from me, that’s no problem.”
Guardiola prevailed against the two Italians Simone Inzaghi (Inter Milan) and Luciano Spalletti (SSC Napoli). Sarina Wiegman, who only lost to Spain in the World Cup final with England’s women’s team, received the award for Coach of the Year like last year.
2023-09-01 10:05:36
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