Italian professional soccer Serie A Napoli defender Kim Min-jae returns to Korea via Incheon International Airport to enter basic military training on the 6th and holds up the Serie A Best Defender Award trophy. Kim Min-jae, who led Napoli to its first league championship in 33 years, became the first Asian player to win the Italian Serie A best defender award.
Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), who was the first Asian defender to be included in the Ballon d’Or nomination, was excluded from the list of candidates for the ‘2023 World Best 11’ selected by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) and the International Football Association Board (FIFPRO).
FIFA and FIFPRO announced the 46 male and female finalists (23 men and 23 women) for the ‘2023 FIFA·FIFPRO World Best 11’ on their website on the 4th (Korean time).
The FIFA·FIFPRO World Best 11 is chosen by professional soccer players from all over the world who have shown the best performance. The activity standard is from December 2022 to August of last year.
According to FIFA, about 28,000 players participated in this vote. The World’s Best 11 will be revealed at ‘The Best FIFA Football Awards’ held in London, England on the 15th.
None of the Korean players, including Kim Min-jae and Son Heung-min (Tottenham), who attracted much attention, were nominated.
It is especially unfortunate that Kim Min-jae was excluded.
Kim Min-jae played as a starting defender at Naples in the Italian Serie A in the 2022-23 season, becoming a major contributor to the team winning the league title for the first time in 33 years. Kim Min-jae also received the Serie A Best Defense Award.
Thanks to these performances, Kim Min-jae was selected as one of the 30 candidates for the Ballon d’Or, the world’s most prestigious soccer award, in September last year. This was the first time for an Asian defender. Kim Min-jae ultimately ranked 22nd in the Ballon d’Or voting.
As a result, it seemed that Kim Min-jae would be named as a defender candidate in the World Best 11, but he was left out as a result.
In the men’s ‘Best 11’ candidate defender category announced on this day, six people were selected: John Stones, Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Eder Militao, and Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid).
Son Heung-min’s name wasn’t even there. The seven forward candidates are Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, Al-Etihad), Erling Haaland (Man City), Harry Kane (Tottenham, Bayern Munich), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (PSG, Inter Miami), and Cristiano. Ronaldo (Al Nasr) and Vinicius (Real Madrid) were present.
In particular, it raised doubt as striker candidates Victor Osimhen (Nigeria), who led Naples to victory, and ‘Prince of Egypt’ Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) were not included. There were ‘0’ Asian and African players in this Best 11 nominations.
Meanwhile, the best 11 midfielder candidates are Jude Bellingham (Dortmund, Real Madrid), Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne (Man City), Ilkay Gundogan (Man City, Barcelona), and Luka Modric. Federico Valverde (Real Madrid) was there.
Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Ederson (Manchester City), and Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa) were selected as goalkeeper candidates. 토토사이트