Vinicius, Bonmati named FIFA's best

DOHA — Real Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior won the FIFA Best men's player of the year award at a ceremony in Doha on Tuesday, while Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati picked up the women's prize for the second time.

The award comes two months after 24-year-old Vinicius came second in the Ballon d'Or vote, with Real electing to snub the ceremony when it found out beforehand that Manchester City midfielder Rodri was set to win the trophy.

But, the Brazilian was this time on hand to collect the prize in person, as he is in Qatar with his club ahead of its Intercontinental Cup final clash with Mexico's Pachuca on Wednesday.

Vinicius succeeds Lionel Messi as the FIFA best men's player, after the Argentinian scooped up the last two editions of the award.

The live wire forward scored 24 goals and laid on 11 assists in 39 matches across all competitions as he led Real to a La Liga and Champions League double last season.

Having already wrapped up his third La Liga title in May, Vinicius secured the second Champions League trophy of his career as Real beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 on June 1.

Vinicius was on the scoresheet at Wembley with a pinpoint finish inside the final 10 minutes to make the game safe for his team.

If Vinicius, at times, played second fiddle to clubmate Jude Bellingham in La Liga, he was undoubtedly the main man for Madrid in Europe once the going got serious.

He was the top scorer for the Champions League winner with six goals in the competition, including the strike in the final and a brace in Madrid's 4-3 aggregate win over Bayern Munich in the semifinals.

He also scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory in the final of the Supercopa against archrival Barcelona in January.

But, last season was not all plain sailing for Vinicius as he endured a disappointing Copa America with the Brazilian national team over the summer.

He scored two goals in a group-stage win against Paraguay, but his side ultimately crashed out on penalties to Uruguay in the quarterfinals.

Serial winner

The 26-year-old Spaniard Bonmati picked up the best women's player award for the second year running, adding to the two Ballon d'Or trophies she already has in her trophy cabinet.

"I'm grateful," Bonmati said via video link from Barcelona's Olympic Stadium.

"I'm proud to receive this award."

Last term, Bonmati led Barcelona to a historic continental quadruple of titles and claimed the Nations League with her national team.

She won every trophy available to her in club soccer in 2023-24 — the Spanish league, the Copa de la Reina, the Supercopa de Espana and a second successive Women's Champions League.

Bonmati scored a goal and put in a player-of-the-match performance as Barcelona beat Lyon 2-0 in the final of the Champions League to claim its third European title in four seasons.

Manchester United's Argentine forward Alejandro Garnacho won the Puskas Award after his spectacular bicycle kick against Everton in the Premier League was recognized as the best goal of the year.

AFP