Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was named The Best FIFA Men’s Coach at the awards ceremony tonight in London. It was obviously a very memorable night for Pep, with perhaps the most colorful moment occurring when co-host Thierry Henry asked him which of his two continental treble winning teams was better.
Pep Guardiola responded with a curse word that was NSFW, take a look below:
Thierry Henry: Which of your treble teams is better : Barça of 2009 or Man City of 2023
Pep : “Fuck” #Pep #TheBest pic.twitter.com/3ZvkES4AiJ
— The Pep (@GuardiolaTweets) January 15, 2024
During the first season that Pep was in charge at FC Barcelona, he led the Catalan club to a continental treble (La Liga, UEFA Champions League and Copa Del Rey). At the time, Pep became the youngest manager to ever win the UCL.
Prior to winning the Premier League, UCL and FA Cup last season, Pep also led Man City to a domestic treble in 2018-19.
In the past year, the 52-year-old Catalan has led the way as City became the first club ever to hold the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup titles at the same time. Guardiola has now won 16 pieces of silverware since he took the Man City managerial gig in 2016.
“We’re here because we won a lot and the thousands of people involved in our success,” Pep said in accepting the plaudit.
“I’m really happy for the season we had because it was an incredible journey. In the end we did it, but the pleasure of being there was incredible.”
Elsewhere Ederson won the FIFA Best Goalkeeper award and Erling Haaland tied Lionel Messi in voting for the FIFA Best Men’s Player award. However, the top award went to the Argentine winger, instead of the Norwegian striker, due to a convoluted tie-breaking system.
We explained it all in our last post, which also covered The FIFA Best awards.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.