Alongside his Argentinian captain Lionel Messi, Emiliano Martinez is on course to win the Ballon d’Or for goalkeepers, the Yachine Trophy, even though he was not the most successful goalkeeper in the 2022-2023 season .
It’s funny. A year and a half after having redefined the criteria for awarding its Ballon d’Or, by putting individual performances first (and this, over the past season and no longer the calendar year), France Football will not honor the best players of the 2022-2023 financial year but those of a competition, certainly the most glorious, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony is scheduled for October 30 in Paris.
Lionel Messi, Ballon d’Or record holder, will logically claim his 8th coronation, after having led the Abiceleste to the world coronation at the end of a penalty shootout against the Blues, on December 18. His goalkeeper teammate, Emiliano Martinez, decisive throughout the competition (and heroic on Randal Kolo Muani’s last French opportunity), should obtain the Yachine Trophy rewarding goalkeepers. He is already the big favorite among the bookmakers (his odds are 1.5 on SportsLens).
The problem is that “Dibu” Martinez is not one of the best goalkeepers in Europe for the 2022-2023 season. He blows hot and cold in the goals of Aston Villa, who finished 7th in the Premier League last spring. Ederson, the goalkeeper of a Manchester City who achieved the hat-trick, left to miss this reward, as did Marc-André ter Stegen, who was certainly the most successful goalkeeper last season in Barça’s goals.
