Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Inter Miami, Lionel Messi, Football
Marcus Banks
The Club World Cup officially kicked off on Sunday and fans couldn’t help but notice what the player of the match award was renamed.
FIFA’s revamped club competition started in the United States with Inter Miami taking on Egypt’s Al Ahly.
Lionel Messi hit the post with a free-kick and also struck the bar with a shot from long-range but neither side were able to break the deadlock.
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The MLS side had their 38-year-old goalkeeper Oscar Ustari to thank for keeping them in the game with the shot stopper making a number of key saves as well as denying former Aston Villa forward Trezeguet from the penalty spot.
Unsurprisingly, Ustari was named player of the match but fans have been left baffled when seeing the name of the post-game award.
A graphic on the broadcast revealed Ustari had won the ‘Superior Player of the Match award’ and fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
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One fan wrote: “What on earth is a ‘superior player of the match’”
A second said: “Games gone mate.”
Another added: “I can imagine this while the tournament is going to be full of nonsense and embarrassment.”
A fourth said: “Utter woke nonsense.”
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Typically in US sports, the best player is awarded the player of the match award or named MVP rather than being classed as the man of the match.
For the Club World Cup, the name ‘Superior Player of the Match’ is a result of a sponsorship agreement with American beer brand Michelob ULTRA.
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The slogan for the company’s beer is ‘Superior Light Beer’ hence the naming of the player of the match awards at the Club World Cup.
The same name was used at the 2024 Copa America tournament in the US where Michelob were the primary sponsor of the award.
Messi is back in action on Thursday June 19 against Portuguese side FC Porto. They will conclude the Club World Cup group stage against Brazilian opposition Palmeiras.
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Should they progress as winners of runners up in Group A, they face the prospect of facing Messi’s former side and Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.
The reunion could prove to be eventful with the Argentine refusing to congratulate the French champions on winning their first European trophy after a spiky exit from the club in 2023.