Dibu Martínez was among the finalists for the FIFA The Best award as the best goalkeeper in the world

Dibu Martínez is one of the three candidates to win the FIFA The Best award for best goalkeeper (REUTERS)

FIFA has announced the finalists for The Best awards for the best goalkeeper in the world in the male and female sphere, with Dibu Martínez as a finalist and one of the great favorites to win this award. The idol of the Argentine team, who in the last edition of the World Cup helped his country win the champion’s trophy and kept the Golden Glove, has been paired with the Moroccan Yassine Bono and the Belgian Thibaut Courtois.

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Dibu Martínez, who emerged from the Independiente youth academy and trained at Arsenal FC in England before moving to Aston Villa, has been essential for the Albiceleste to win the World Cup trophy, mainly due to his work on penalties in the quarterfinals against the Netherlands and in the final shootout against France. Together with Bono (Sevilla FC) and Courtois (Real Madrid), he has left Brazilians Alisson Becker and Ederson, who were on the first list of nominees, on the way.

The 30-year-old goalkeeper made his debut under the three sticks of the Albiceleste on June 4, 2021 in the 1-1 draw against Chile at home for the South American Qualifiers and, in a short time, took over the Argentine goal with saving performances to protect zero on his fence within that competition, as well as in the titles won in the run-up to the World Cup, such as the Copa América and the Finalísima.

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His excellent moment extended to the event held in Qatar with interventions in the group stage against Mexico and the round of 16 against Australia, but his great save in the last added minute of the second overtime played against Les bleus against Randal Kolo Muani was Crucial to extend the definition to penalties, where he excelled with a shot saved by Kingsley Coman. His record in the Argentine team has 17 unbeaten hurdles out of 26 games played and he has only conceded 13 goals in regular time.

Opposite, there will be two colleagues who excelled in different competitions, but were protagonists of the milestones achieved by their teams. Courtois had an excellent start to 2022 with Real Madrid due to various actions under the goal, which led Merengue to the final of the last UEFA Champions League. The figure of the Belgian goalkeeper appeared in his greatest splendor to drown Liverpool in frustration and reach the peak of his career at club level. However, internal problems in his National Team prevented Belgium from progressing beyond the group stage.

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The third candidate placed Morocco as the first African country to reach the semifinals of a World Cup. Bono, 31, originally from Canada, but with dual Moroccan nationality, kept his fence in 3 of the first 4 World Cup matches against powerful rivals such as Croatia, Spain or Portugal. The falls in the semifinals and the match for third place did not tarnish his performance. And he will be one of the two competitors that Dibu Martínez will have for achieving the highest award given by FIFA.

In the women’s shortlist, the chosen ones are the German Ann-Katrin Berger (Chelsea FC Femenino), the English Mary Earps (Manchester United WFC) and the Chilean Christiane Endler (Olympique Lyonnais).

This prize is awarded based on the votes of a jury made up of the current coaches of all the women’s/men’s national teams (one per team), the current captains of said teams, a journalist from each country and members registered on the official site. of FIFA.

The winner will be known on Monday, February 27 at a ceremony organized by FIFA to be held in Paris, where Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez and Lionel Scaloni could also be present. Both Messi and Julián are among the 14 chosen to win the FIFA The Best award for the best player in the world (the shortlist will be announced this Friday, February 10), while Scaloni could be one of the candidates for the best manager (announced this Thursday 9/2).

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