Ind‘ ‘’t• ˆ‘” Me••i

annually by the sport’s governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year.

Messi was named FIFA Male Player of the Year at a ceremony in Paris, France, this past Monday on the back of his World Cup triumph with Argentina. The 35-year-old forward scored two goals in the World Cup final, which Argentina won on penalties against France following a 3-3 draw in extra time.

Phenomenal

Mkhonta, who signed a two-year contract with United, said that he picked Messi because he was phenomenal. “What made me choose Messi over every other player is that in every game he plays for PSG and Argentine; he either assists or scores goals. He definitely deserved to win this accolade. The fact that he went on to even win the World Cup for the first time for his country last year in Qatar also made him to be the front-runner for the prestigious trophy,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 31-year-old former Young Buffaloes right-back will be looking to return to winning ways when they go away to Kansanshi Dynamos in a fixture billed for 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

BEST FIFA MEN’S PLAYER Winner: Lionel Messi

Nominees: Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema

BEST FIFA WOMEN’S PLAYER Spain and Barcelona forward Alexia Putellas

Winner: Alexia Putellas

Nominees: Beth Mead, Alex Morgan

BEST MEN’S XI: Thibaut Courtois; Achraf Hakimi, Joao Cancelo, Virgil van Dijk; Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modric, Casemiro; Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Erling Haaland

BEST WOMEN’S XI: Christiane Endler; Lucy Bronze, Maria Leon, Leah Williamson, Wendy Renard; Alexia Putellas, Keira Walsh, Lena Oberdorff; Alex Morgan, Sam Kerr, Beth Mead

FIFA BEST FANS AWARD Winner: Argentina’s fans

Nominees: Japan’s fans, Abdullah Al-Salmi

FIFA FAIR PLAY AWARD Winner: Luka Lochoshvili

Nominees: Eduardo Camavinga and France under-21s team, Sadio Mane

BEST MEN’S COACH AWARD Winner: Lionel Scaloni

Nominees: Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola

BEST WOMENS’S COACH AWARD Winner: Sarina Wiegman

Nominees: Sonia Bompastor, Pia Sundhage

PUSKAS AWARD

Winner: Marcin Oleksy (Warta Poznan vs Stal Rzeszow - 6 November 2022)

Nominees: Mario Balotelli (Adana Demirspor vs Goztepe - 22 May 2022), Amandine Henry ( Barcelona vs Lyon - 21 May 2022), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan vs Atalanta - 15 May 2022), Alou Kuol (Iraq U23 vs Australia U23 - 4 June 2022), Kylian Mbappe (Argentina vs France - 18 December 2022), Francisco Gonzalez Metilli (Club Atletico Central Cordoba vs Rosario Central - 1 August 2022), Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona vs Villarreal - 2 April 2022), Dimitri Payet (Marseille vs PAOK - 7 April 2022), Richarlison (Brazil vs Serbia - 24 November 2022), Alessia Russo (England vs Sweden - 26 July 2022)

BEST MEN’S GOALKEEPER Winner: Emiliano Martinez

Nominees: Thibaut Courtois, Yassine Bounou