Vicente del Bosque wins coach of the year

Spanish national coach, Vicente del Bosque was chosen as the FIFA 2012 Coach of the Year, his first Ballon d'Or, an award that until now had only been won by Portuguese José Mourinho and Catalan Pep Guardiola.

Del Bosque guided Spain to its landmark Euro 2012 title in Poland and the Ukraine, becoming the first national team ever to win the triple crown, a World Cup between consecutive European Championships.

"Congratulations to Guardiola and Mourinho. It is an honour to represent the Spanish national team. I'd like to thank my players because they are great and they make each and every one of us better. We all want to win, but we have to take care of the football. We have to bring our best behaviour and personal moral code to the game", Del Bosque said.

The Spain legend went on to explain his choices as one of the selectors for the Ballon d'Or award. "I nominated three Spaniards as a result of our nation's incredible moment in football. For this reason, I named our two captains (Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernández) along with Iniesta as the best European footballer of the year," Del Bosque explained.

The Spain coach was also asked about Jose Mourinho's absence at the ceremony and said: "It's a personal decision. He's got an important game on Wednesday and has explained his absence".