Fifa Awards: David Alaba believes Lionel Messi’s vote was decided by the Austrian team

Austria captain David Alaba claims he voted for Lionel Messi over Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema as men’s player of the year at the Best Fifa Awards as a team decision.

Defender Alaba, 30, was chastised on social media for not opting for Benzema.

Argentina’s Messi won the award on Monday, beating out France’s Mbappe and Benzema.

“The Austrian national team votes for this honor as a group, not just me,” Alaba explained.

“Everyone in the team council has the ability to vote, and that is how it is decided.”

Fifa published a list of who voted for whom at the awards ceremony. The hashtag #AlabaOut trended on social media when Alaba voted for Benzema second and Mbappe third.

Benzema and Alaba have been teammates at Real Madrid since the latter’s arrival from Bayern Munich in 2021.

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“Everyone knows how much I adore Karim and his performances, and I have frequently stated that he is the best striker in the world, and that remains true. There is no doubt about it “Alaba stated.

National team coaches and captains, as well as journalists and fans from around the world, voted for the award.

‘I want Croatia to be respected more.’

Croatia’s head coach, Zlatko Dalic, elected not to vote, saying that his team deserved more “respect” from Fifa.

Despite the fact that Croatia reached the World Cup semi-finals last year, captain Luka Modric was the only player from the country on the list of 14 contenders.

“If English, Brazilian, Spanish, German, or Italian players and coaches had our results, they’d be on the shortlist for every football award,” Dalic remarked.

“I want more respect for us, for our national team, for our players, and for myself, because we more than deserve it with two medals.”

Mateo Kovacic of Chelsea and Josko Gvardiol of RB Leipzig, according to Dalic, should have been on the list.

“Fifa should promote the fact that a tiny country such as Croatia can play against the biggest nations in the world because that’s the most beautiful message for the whole football world,” he said.