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Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi both made headlines after the 2023 FIFA The Best award winners were unveiled earlier this month. It's barely two weeks now and Portugal manager Roberto Martinez has given critics more to talk about by conceding to making mistakes in the voting process.
Lionel Messi was announced as the winner of the 2023 FIFA The Best Men's Player of the Year award on 15 January. Manchester City goal machine Erling Haaland finished in second position while Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe came third.
However, the outcome of the award didn't sit well with many who believed that the first place should've gone to someone else. Even Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't help but question the credibility of the accolade.
Now, Portugal manager Roberto Martinez, who participated in the voting process, has come out to admit that he made a mistake in his decision-making.
"It was a mistake," the tactician told A Bola. "Now we have a lot of votes, we have a lot of elections. We have the FIFA player, The Best player, who has been there all season. The first time we have a World Cup in winter and the voting is strange, because it was only for six months.
"For me, individual awards in football are difficult. I think the individual player represents what the team did."
Roberto Martinez picked Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic in first place in his voting. He placed Manchester City's Bernardo Silva in the second spot and Lionel Messi in third. Explaining his picks, the tactician said:
"And what about Brozovic and Bernardo, and the players who were in the Champions League final, and who were successful in domestic trophies. But Brozovic is a player who represents an idea of the game, who represents what Croatia is doing.
"But it was a mistake, for the period in question. And I think I wasn't the only one who made that mistake, because when you see the votes, I think there's more of an intention to see what happened at the World Cup too," he added.
Brozovic helped Inter Milan reached the UEFA Champions League final last season and also won the bronze medal with Croatia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi set for epic clash
Fans could get the opportunity to watch Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo go against each other once again in what promises to be an epic encounter in Saudi Arabia.
Inter Miami and Al Nassr are scheduled to go head-to-head in a highly anticipated Riyadh Season Cup game at the Kingdom Arena on Thursday, 1 February. With both players already in the final phase of their careers, this could be the last time we'll get to see this memorable face-off.
However, it's worth mentioning that Cristiano Ronaldo is currently nursing an injury and battling to return to top shape in time for the fixture. This saw Al-Nassr's pre-season tour in China getting canceled. There are still doubts around his participation in the Inter Miami clash.
