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The top three candidates for the 2022–23 UEFA Men's Player of the Year award have been revealed by UEFA with Vinicius Jr. missing from the list.
The players on the original shortlist were chosen by the UEFA technical study group based on how well they performed for their clubs and national teams in the 2022–23 season.
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The list, which consists of the best players for the 2022/2023 season, was cut down to three names, with Messi, Haaland and De Bruyne making the list.
World Cup winner Lionel Messi, Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland and treble winner Kelvin De Bruyne are the three nominees for the award.
Vinicus Jr., who had a remarkable season with Real Madrid was left out of the list for the top three players released by UEFA.
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Vinicius snubbed by UEFA
The UEFA shortlist for the 2022–2023 season, which includes the names of the top three players in Europe was released today, with Vinicius not making the list.
The Brazilian, who had an exceptional campaign, made 33 appearances, scoring 10 goals and providing 10 assists for Real Madrid in LaLiga.
He also had a good performance in the Champions League, scoring seven goals and providing five assists in 12 games.
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Haaland on the other hand, made 35 Premier League appearances, scored 36 goals and provided eight assists for Man City. He also clinched the top scorer award in the Champions League with 12 goals.
De Bruyne who was influential in Man City's treble win made 32 appearances, scored seven goals and provided 18 assists. He also scored two goals and made seven assists in the Champions League.
Lionel Messi also had a spectacular season, helping Argentina lift the World Cup trophy by scoring seven goals and providing three assists in the tournament.
The Argentine also made 32 appearances, scoring 16 goals and providing 16 assists for PSG in Ligue 1, including four goals and four assists in the Champions League.
Vinicius Junior had an impressive stat last season but despite his performance, compared to the top three nominees, UEFA failed to recognise the Brazilian as a worthy candidate for the award.
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UEFA top three nominees
In a statement released by UEFA on Twitter, “NOMINEES of the UEFA Men's Player of the Year 2022/23 are Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi.
“All #UEFAawards winners will be announced at the #UCLdraw on 31 August.”
According to the official website of UEFA, “For the men’s player award, an initial shortlist of players was selected by the UEFA technical study group based on their performance during the 2022/23 season at both club and national team level.
“The top three nominees were then voted for by a jury composed of the coaches of the clubs which played in the group stages of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, together with the coaches of the men’s senior national teams of UEFA’s member associations.
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“A group of journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) were also part of the jury.
“Coaches and journalists were asked to select their top three players from the shortlist by allocating them five points, three points and one point respectively.
“The final result was based on the total number of votes cast by the coaches and journalists. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.”
List of the top three players in alphabetical order:
- Kevin DE BRUYNE (Belgium – Manchester City FC)
- Erling HAALAND (Norway – Manchester City FC)
- Lionel MESSI (Argentina – Paris Saint-Germain, now at Inter Miami CF)
The winner of the award will be revealed at the 2023–24 UEFA Champions League group stage draw event, which will be held on Thursday, August 31, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
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