Aston Villa star Emi ‘Dibu’ Martinez, 31, has been awarded the Yashin Trophy for the best goalkeeper of the 2022-23 season at the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.
The Argentine claimed the trophy on Monday night following his heroics for Argentina, as they won the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The award was first given out in 2019 and is named after iconic Russian ‘keeper Lev Yashin.
Emi Martinez beat, in order, Manchester City’s Ederson, Morocco star Yassine Bounou, Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois, Barcelona’s Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Cameroon international Andre Onana, Croatia’s Dominik Livakovic, Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale, AC Milan’s Mike Maignan and Lens’ Brice Samba.
Alisson won the first-ever Yashin Trophy but the Liverpool goalkeeper has not made the shortlist this time around as Martinez becomes only the fifth winner of this prestigious accolade.
Previous winners of the award include Liverpool’s Alisson Becker, Paris Saint-Germain’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois.
