In Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, his compatriot Jorge Mendes was also honoured as the best sports agent, but it was the Saudi player from Al Nassr who was the big 'figure' at the ceremony, which was attended by other Portuguese, including the president of the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP), Pedro Proença.

Ronaldo reacted to the great night: “These unique prizes will be housed in my museum. It's been an amazing season, and I'm quite proud of it. I express my gratitude to Al Nassr, my coaches, my teammates, and the Portuguese national team.

Top scorer in 2023 with 54 goals overall 44 for Al Nassr and 10 for Portugal the captain of the Portuguese national football team remarked, "The Maradona Award will put passion in my museum; he was one of the special players.”

It should come as no surprise that Erling Haaland of Manchester City, took home the ‘sceptre’ of best player of the year 2023, surpassing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Rúben Dias, and Bernardo Silva.

Pep Guardiola, the Spanish coach of Man City, was named the best coach of 2023 after winning the FA Cup, English League, Champions League, and FA Cup in 2022–2023 as well as the European Super Cup in 2023–2024.

Alongside their English team-mates who were named the best of the previous year, Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva, and Matheus Nunes attended the ceremony and stepped to the stage to display the trophies they had won.

After winning the title of agent of the year, Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes claimed to be among the greatest, saying, “It's an honour to be here again. I'm rather pleased. I had one of my greatest years at Gestifute last year. We worked assiduously and passionately. I express my gratitude to my family, my coworkers at Gestifute, and the participants.”

Portuguese international Rafael Leão, of Italian side AC Milan, won the award for best player creator of digital content.

During the ceremony, the late Franz Beckenbauer, Mario Zagallo and Sir Bobby Charlton were honoured, as was the case at FIFA's The Best Gala in London.

Author

A passionate Irish journalist with a love for cycling, politics and of course Portugal especially their sausage rolls.

Rory Mc Ginn