David Alaba received his ninth trophy as Austria’s footballer of the year. The Real Madrid legionnaire accepted the award from APA editor-in-chief Johannes Bruckenberger on Friday before the first international match of the year in Linz against Azerbaijan. Alaba won the 2022 election organized by the APA for the third time in a row. With a total of nine awards, the 30-year-old Viennese is the superior record winner.
In addition to Alaba, only Ivica Vastic (four wins) and Herbert Prohaska (three) have won more than two trophies in the election, which has been held since 1984 among the coaches of the domestic Bundesliga. Alaba has received the award six times in a row from 2011 to 2016 and continuously since 2020. At the start of the European Championship qualification against Azerbaijan, the ÖFB captain is not in the squad. Alaba only started team training on Wednesday after a muscle injury in his thigh.