Carlo Ancelotti and Emma Hayes have won the inaugural Johan Cruyff awards, awarded to the best coaches in the men’s and women’s matches in the 2024 Ballon d’Or rite.
Ancelotti guided Real Madrid to a record 15th Champions League crown, the fifth of his coaching career, finishing the season jointly with the Champions League. Identify yourself in the league.
Hayes encouraged Chelsea to compete in a fifth consecutive Women’s Super League (WSL) season, as well as the overall Women’s League Cup and the semi-finals of the Women’s Champions League and FA Women’s Cup.
At the end of the season, Hayes left Chelsea to become manager of the United States women’s team.
Hayes’ team beat Brazil 1-0 in the final of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, winning gold for the first time in 12 years.
Neither of them were in Paris to celebrate their awards, as Hayes is in the United States before a match against Argentina, and Real Madrid did not send any representative to the ceremony.
The EU champions said their representatives would no longer advance “where it is not respected” when they learned that Vinicius would not notice the distinguished trophy, AFP and Spanish media reported.
“I just want to say that I feel very honored to receive the first Ballon d’Or for a coach in women’s football,” Hayes said via video message.
“I understand how challenging our job is. I feel a little embarrassed because we are in a team game. It has been a great honor for me to coach such incredible people at Chelsea and in the United States. This is a very proud day.”
