England boss Sarina Wiegman was named best women’s coach for the second successive year and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola took the men’s prize at The Best FIFA Awards 2023 in London on Monday night.
Dutchwoman Wiegman guided the Lionesses to the World Cup final in Australia, where they were beaten by Spain, having also won Euro 2022 on home soil.
Seven of Wiegman’s England squad made it into the FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World XI – goalkeeper Mary Earps, defenders Lucy Bronze and Alex Greenwood and Keira Walsh, Alessia Russo, Lauren James and Ella Toone.
As well as picking up the award last year, Wiegman has also taken the honour in 2017 and 2020, when she was in charge of the Netherlands.
Chelsea head coach Emma Hayes finished second in the vote, ahead of Barcelona’s Jonatan Giraldez.
“I feel very privileged and humbled to be here again,” Wiegman said. “I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in our performances with England.
“Most of all thanks to the players who have performed so well on the back of the Euros and the World Cup – lots of things were thrown in front of us and we did really well.”
Manchester United goalkeeper Earps also collected the best women’s goalkeeper award for the second year in a row.
Earps finished her acceptance speech with words of encouragement for others.
“If you are struggling, keep going,” she said. “It is never too late to be who you are – 2023 showed we can change the world if we speak out against injustice, so let’s keep doing that.”
The best women’s player award went to Spain’s World Cup winner Aitana Bonmati ahead of compatriot Jenni Hermoso and Real Madrid’s 18-year-old Colombia forward Linda Caicedo.
Guardiola took the best men’s coach award ahead of Luciano Spalletti, who guided Napoli to the Serie A title, and Simone Inzaghi, whose Inter Milan side Manchester City beat in the Champions League final to complete the treble.
“I want to share this trophy and moment with our owners at Manchester City,” Guardiola said.
“On behalf of my backroom staff and myself, I want to say thank you so much to our players.
“Thanks so much for this incredible journey because they don’t know what it means every morning to go there and live with them, winning or losing it doesn’t matter – living with them has been incredible.”
Argentina’s Lionel Messi, now with Major League Soccer side Inter Miami, won the best men’s player award once again.
He edged out Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, with France forward Kylian Mbappe also in the running.
Six Manchester City players made it into the men’s World XI – defenders John Stones, Kyle Walker and Ruben Dias along with midfielders Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne and Haaland.
England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham was also included in the best men’s team, while City’s Brazil international Ederson took the men’s best goalkeeper award.
:: The winners of The Best FIFA Football Awards 2023:
The Best FIFA Women’s Player: Aitana Bonmati (Spain/Barcelona)
The Best FIFA Men’s Player: Lionel Messi (Argentina/Inter Miami)
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Mary Earps (England/Manchester United)
The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Ederson (Brazil/Manchester City)
The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman (England women’s national team)
The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City)
The FIFA Puskas Award: Guilherme Madruga (Botafogo)
The FIFA Fair Play Award: Brazil men’s national team (anti-racism)
The FIFA Fan Award: Hugo Daniel ‘Toto’ Iniguez & son (Colon de Santa Fe)
Europa Conference League: Aston Villa stunned by Olympiacos
Aston Villa were stunned by Olympiacos as they suffered a 4-2 home defeat in the Europa Conference League.
On what the Villa faithful hoped would be a famous night at Villa Park, they instead saw their team dispatched by their Greek opponents in the first leg of their semi-final encounter.
Ayoub El Kaabi scored a hat-trick for the visitors, who were 2-0 up inside 30 minutes on Thursday.
Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby struck either side of the interval to restore parity, but El Kaabi sealed his hat-trick from the penalty spot before Santiago Hezze added further gloss with a sensational finish. To add to Villa's misery, Douglas Luiz then missed a penalty late on.
In the other semi-final tie, Fiorentina took a 3-2 aggregate lead against Club Brugge.
M'Bala Nzola was Fiorentina's hero in stoppage time, scoring in the 91st minute to nudge the Serie A team ahead.
Hans Vanaken had scored from a penalty following a VAR check for handball in the 17th minute, cancelling out Riccardo Sottil's early opener, though Fiorentina restored their lead through Andrea Belotti before half-time in a frantic first half.
Thiago equalised for Brugge, but it was ultimately not enough.
Europa League: Wirtz and Andrich goals put Leverkusen on the brink, Marseille hold Atalanta
Bayer Leverkusen put one foot in the Europa League final as Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich scored in Thursday's 2-0 semi-final first-leg win over Roma at the Stadio Olimpico.
Roma were masters of their own downfall as Wirtz opened the scoring after 28 minutes, Rick Karsdorp's horrible error allowing Alex Grimaldo to race into the area and tee up Wirtz to finish into an unguarded net.
Though Daniele De Rossi's hosts improved after the break, Andrich added a spectacular second with 73 minutes on the clock, the midfielder giving Mile Svilar no chance as he side-footed into the top-left corner from 25 yards out.
Roma should have pulled one back four minutes into stoppage time, but Tammy Abraham could only nod over from inside the six-yard box after a goalmouth scramble, and they now have it all to do in next week's second leg.
Leverkusen's unbeaten run for 2023-24 stands at 47 games across all competitions (39 wins, eight draws), and they are now overwhelming favourites to stamp their ticket to the final in Dublin.
The other semi-final tie remains in the balance at the halfway stage, with Atalanta being pegged back in a 1-1 draw with Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.
Having scored twice in La Dea's memorable win at Anfield in the last round, Gianluca Scamacca took in Teun Koopmeiners' pass before finishing low across goal 11 minutes in, but Gian Piero Gasperini's team couldn't hold on.
Chancel Mbemba was the unlikely goalscorer for Marseille, stepping out of defence to clip a 25-yard effort against the far post and in after 20 minutes.
Neither side could find a winner from there, meaning it's all to play for ahead of next week's return fixture at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo.
Orlando City v FC Cincinnati: Acosta hails visitors for absorbing punches
Luciano Acosta has hailed FC Cincinnati for coming through a testing period as they look to make it three straight wins in MLS play at Orlando City on Saturday.
After going unbeaten through their first six games of the season, Cincinnati suffered back-to-back 2-1 defeats against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal.
However, they have since bounced back with two wins over difficult opponents, seeing off Atlanta United and the Colorado Rapids by the same scoreline.
Acosta scored his 44th goal for Cincinnati – the most of any player in franchise history – in that latter game, and he believes their resilience has been key.
"I think it's just about our mentality," Acosta said. "We lost those two games and it was a bit of a punch that woke us up. But now it's about the mentality and getting back to it."
Head coach Pat Noonan said of Acosta: "I think what makes it more impressive is teams are going to try to prevent him from having an impact.
"When you're a key player and you're able to do what he's doing with the focus on stopping you in a lot of ways, that's what is unique."
Orlando, meanwhile, were beaten 2-1 by Toronto FC last week, halting their four-game unbeaten streak and dropping them to 13th in the Eastern Conference.
Forward Duncan McGuire felt the Lions should have taken maximum points from that game and is desperate to atone at Inter&Co Stadium.
"I definitely think we should've won," he said.
"I think how difficult this felt and how this feels for us right now is going to push us and motivate us to train hard all week, to get a win for the fans at home and get the job done."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Orlando City – Duncan McGuire
Maguire scored his fourth goal of the MLS season against Toronto last week – no other Orlando player has netted more than once in 2024.
Those goals have come from an expected goals (xG) figure of 2.7, with the United States international also attempting a team-high 27 shots this campaign.
FC Cincinnati – Luciano Acosta
Acosta has contributed to at least one goal in four straight MLS matches (one goal, three assists).
It is Acosta's fifth streak of four or more straight regular-season games with a goal contribution for Cincinnati, with Brandon Vazquez the only other player to achieve that feat for the team.
MATCH PREDICTION – ORLANDO CITY WIN
Orlando earned a win and a draw against Supporters' Shield winners Cincinnati last season, making them one of two teams (also the New England Revolution) to play Cincinnati twice in the 2023 regular season and not lose either match.
The Lions may just fancy their chances of another positive result against Noonan's men, who have only won one of their last three away games (one draw, one defeat).
Orlando have only lost two of their last 17 regular-season home matches dating back to last April, winning nine and drawing six, so viewers should expect a response to their loss last time out.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Orlando City – 49.3%
FC Cincinnati – 23.6%
Draw – 27.1%
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