Manchester City Boss Pep Guardiola won the 2023 FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year award after leading Manchester City to an impressive treble last season.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss oversaw a squad of superstars including the likes of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne as the Cityzens were successful in the Premier League, FA Cup, and UEFA Champions League.
Guardiola saw off competition from Inter boss Simone Inzaghi and Napoli title winner Luciano Spalletti, who now manages Italy’s men’s national team.
He also became the first coach to win two European trebles when he won it all back in 2009 with Barca.
Current Blaugrana boss Xavi was previously shortlisted before the final three were chosen, while Ange Postecoglou was also honored for winning the domestic treble with Celtic before joining Tottenham Hotspur.
It is the first time Guardiola has won the award, having finished second in 2019 and third in 2021 and 2022. His victory marks the return of the trophy to the club’s manager after Lionel Scaloni was rewarded for leading Argentina to World Cup glory in Qatar .
Guardiola is the seventh manager to win the Men’s Coach of the Year award, following Jurgen Klopp, who won it in 2019 and 2020. Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Claudio Ranieri and Thomas Tuchel are other previously successful managers.
From his Man City team, Haaland was named in the final three along with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi for the FIFA best player award, while De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan – now at Barca – Rodri and Bernardo Silva were also selected. Ederson was also nominated for FIFA Men’s Best Goalkeeper.
After their incredible achievements in 2022/23, City have started the current campaign slowly but surely by their own standards, reaching the knockout stages of the Champions League and just two points behind Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
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