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It was awards galore for the football's World Champions Argentina, with the country sweeping away individual as well as team awards. Argentine skipper Lionel Messi won the Best FIFA Men's Player award for a second time ahead of Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe.
Messi won the Golden Ball during the 2022 FIFA World Cup as he ended Argentina's 36-year wait to win the mega event. He also scored seven goals and assisted three more, with only Golden Boot winner Mbappe finding the net more times than his PSG counterpart.
Another star from their tournament was the Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, whose crucial saves throughout the tournament, and especially in the final against France which went into penalty shootouts, earned him the FIFA The Best goalkeeper award.
Martinez, who plays for Premier League club Aston Villa, finished ahead of Thibaut Courtois and Yassine Bounou of Real Madrid and Sevilla respectively in the voting – although Courtois made the cut for the FIFPro Men's World 11.
Messi was all smiles after Martinez's name was announced, a moment of pride for Martinez, who promised to win the Copa America and the World Cup for Messi after making his international debut in 2021.
However, one player who did not seem too pleased with Martinez lifting this award was his PSG teammate Kylian Mbappe, who had a blank expression on his face, one with no smiles and no emotion.
Here's a video of the same:
The reason for such a steely look might be because of Martinez's antics after winning the coveted trophy. The South American shot-stopper wanted a minute’s silence for Mbappe in the dressing room after the final in Qatar.
And during their long parade with fans and the World Cup trophy, he took a doll with Mbappe’s face stuck to it during an open-top bus parade in Buenos Aires. Unsurprisingly, the France international did not want to toast Martinez’s success when he was named the best goalkeeper on the planet at the glamourous awards show in Paris on Monday.
The duo of Messi and Mbappe recently created their own piece of history when they combined for 10 goals in Ligue 1, three more than any other two players in Europe's top-five leagues this season. This happened during Paris Saint-Germain's 3-0 victory over Marseille on Sunday.
