FIFA Best: Super Eagles Coach Eguavoen Sparks Reactions After Voting List for Award Surfaces
- FIFA hosted its annual The Best Award on December 17, 2024, at Doha in Qatar to celebrate football superstars
- Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr got consolation for his Ballon d'Or loss by winning the Men's Best Footballer
- Super Eagles head coach Augustine Eguavoen has landed in hot waters after his top three votes emerged online
Super Eagles head Augustine Eguavoen has attracted the unwanted reaction of football fans after his votes for FIFA The Best Men's Player of the Year emerged.
FIFA The Beat Award is voted for by coaches and captains of national teams, football fans and journalists and was introduced in 2016 when it was separated from the Ballon d'Or.
Source: Getty Images
As noted by FIFA, Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr was named the Player of the Year after accumulating the most votes, beating Manchester City star Rodri, who won the Ballon d'Or.
Fans slam Eguavoen for his votes
FIFA published a document detailing how the captain and coaches of national teams voted, and Super Eagles head coach Eguavoen’s votes caught the fans’ attention.
Eguavoen voted for Lionel Messi in number one, Vinicius Jr in number two, and Rodri in number three. It was his number one vote for Lionel Messi that attracted criticism.
@Kundoni177 wrote:
“It seems we the fans know more about the game more than the so called "football people". Pathetic”
@BwoyGud wrote:
“People don’t understand what we mean by “year under review” cos what’s Messi doing there??”
@Joeychel wrote:
“Voting Lionel Messi in 2024 is crazy.”
@kobinabafu4 wrote:
“Some people will vote for Messi even if another player scores 100 goals, 95 of them from the halfway line. That's why there'll always be question marks about voting-based awards.”
Messi’s nomination also raised questions from the fans, particularly after a quiet Copa America, even though he was impactful for MLS club Inter Miami. He was nominated ahead of Lautaro Martinez, who had a great year for Argentina and Inter Miami.
Eguavoen's time as Super Eagles interim head coach is nearing its end, with rumours linking Bruno Labbadia to the job again, having previously walked away from the offer.
Why Eguavoen should resign
Legit.ng analysed why Eguavoen should resign from Eagles job despite guiding the team to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
The NFF's technical director has been the interim head coach since the proposed appointment of Bruno Labbadia collapsed and saw the team through the qualifiers.
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Source: Legit.ng
