Tag Archives: Mary Earps

Spain’s Aitana Bonmatí Named Best Player at the FIFA Women’s World Cup

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It’s the golden hour for Aitana Bonmatí.

The 25-year-old Spanish professional footballer and Spain midfielder has been awarded the Golden Ball for the best player at the Women’s World Cup after her team edged out England in Sunday’s final.

Aitana Bonmati,

England goalkeeper Mary Earps took home the Golden Glove after keeping three clean sheets at the finals, while Japan‘s Hinata Miyazawa won the Golden Boot and Spain’s Salma Paralluelo was named as the Young Player of the Tournament.

It completes a trophy-laden year for Bonmatí, who won Liga F, the Women’s Champions League and the Spanish Super Cup with her club Barcelona last season.

She was also named as the best player in the Champions League in 2022-23, propelling her into the running to win the next Ballon d’Or, which has been won on the past two occasions by her Spain and Barcelona teammate Alexia Putellas.

Bonmatí’s case for further individual honors will only be strengthened by her performances in Australia and New Zealand as Spain won the Women’s World Cup for the first time, matching the men’s achievement in 2010.

Bonmati started all seven matches for Spain at the tournament, scoring three times and providing two assists.

The Silver Ball and Bronze Ball, for the second- and third-best players, respectively, went to Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso and Sweden’s Amanda Ilestedt.

FIFA‘s technical study group, led by former USWNT coach Jill Ellis, are in charge of deciding the awards.

England’s Earps took home the Golden Glove after keeping clean sheets against Haiti, Denmark and Nigeria, also saving a penalty from Hermoso in the final.

Japan’s Miyazawa scored five times in five games to take the Golden Boot, but her goal scoring streak was cut short by a quarterfinal defeat to Sweden, who went on to finish third.

Finally, 19-year-old Paralluelo was named as the Young Player of the Tournament for her impact on Spain’s run to the trophy.

The Barcelona forward scored the winning goal in the quarterfinal win over the Netherlands and the opener against Sweden in the semifinals.

Alexia Putellas Crowned FIFA’s The Best Women’s Player for Second Year in a Row

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Alexia Putellas is celebrating a second consecutive honor…

The 29-year-old Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Barcelona has been crowned FIFA‘s The Best Women’s Player for the second year in a row, seeing off competition from Beth Mead and Alex Morgan for the award.

Alexia PutellasPutellas claimed the prize at a ceremony in Paris on Monday, with Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi taking the men’s award.

The Barca midfielder becomes the first woman to win the accolade twice since it launched in 2016, with Carli Lloyd, Lieke Martens, Marta, Megan Rapinoe and Lucy Bronze all one-time winners.

She also became the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or Feminin twice in October 2022, finishing ahead of Mead and Sam Kerr.

The Best Women’s Coach award went to Sarina Wiegman, who led England to the title at the Women’s European Championship, and Mary Earps, who played in net for the Lionesses at the tournament, picked up Best Goalkeeper honors.

Putellas has not played since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee while on Spain duty in July. FIFA’s award only takes into account last season.

“The accolade recognizes the most outstanding performers in the women’s game from the period of Aug. 7 2021 to July 31 2022,” the organization said.

During that time, Putellas captained Barca to a third successive Primera Division title. The Catalan side made history by winning all 30 of their league games throughout the 2021-22 campaign.

She also led the Blaugrana to success in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa de la Reina to complete a domestic treble, although they came up short in the Champions League. Putellas’ goal in the final — her 11th in the competition last season — was not enough to stop French side Lyon from beating Barcelona 3-1 in Turin.

There was hope that success with Spain would follow at the European Championship in England, but she was ruled out of the tournament after injuring her ACL in training just days before La Roja‘s first game.

She has not played since, but Barca recently published a video of her doing some work with a ball on the training pitch, hinting that she could return to action before the end of the season.

Arsenal forward Mead, who starred as England won the Euros and is also sidelined with an ACL injury. She joined San Diego Wave‘s Morgan on the final shortlist and finished behind Putellas.

Mead won the Golden Boot and player of the tournament at Euro 2022 last summer, while Morgan was the National Women’s Soccer League‘s leading scorer with 15 goals in just 17 appearances.

Morgan also scored the winner as the United States beat Canada in the 2022 CONCACAF W Championship final — a competition in which she finished as joint-top scorer and player of the tournament — as she became the 13th USWNT player to pass 200 caps.