His side may have lost their opening game of the Norwegian league season 1-0 but Bryne FK goalkeeper Jan de Boer was at least able to celebrate being selected as man of the match after preventing his side from slipping to a much heavier defeat with a string of saves.
Bryne were hosting reigning Eliteserien champions Bodo/Glimt and while their uneven, bobbly pitch made things tricky for the visitors, it was De Boer’s second-half penalty save that ultimately helped his newly-promoted side restrict Bodo/Glimt to a single goal.
After the final whistle, De Boer was presented with his prize which took the surprise form of four dozen fresh eggs, courtesy of one of Norway’s leading hatcheries.
“Jan de Boer was voted Bryne’s best (player) against Bodo/Glimt and got to go home with the prize, which this match was four trays of eggs,” the club posted on social media, alongside an image of their nonplussed Dutch goalkeeper.
While it’s more customary for the man of the match to receive a bottle of champagne, at least De Boer has received a boost on home supplies for the sort of protein-rich breakfast that professional athletes favour.
De Boer’s odd poultry-based prize sees him join the great pantheon of footballers who have received exceptionally weird man-of-the-match awards in the past.
Meanwhile in South Africa, this player got 5GB of data as his award for being named Man of the Match… 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/PugWWtMDZu
— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) January 8, 2018
Mamelodi Sundowns captain Hlompho Kekana went viral when he took home a complimentary 5GB of mobile phone data after being named man of the match prize during a South African Premier League game in 2018. He even got a giant novelty SIM to take home.
Modern Football Is Rubbish: Burger King Ensure River Plate Goalkeeper Quite Literally Crowned ‘Man Of The Match’ Against Boca Juniors (Photo) https://t.co/c6W4gkhHgB via @waatpies pic.twitter.com/Damqj8s91S
— Who Ate All The Pies (@waatpies) March 15, 2018
River Plate‘s veteran goalkeeper Franco Armani suffered the indignity of being quite literally crowned man of the match by sponsors Burger King after helping defeat eternal rivals Boca Juniors in the 2018 Argentinian Super Cup.
In 2020, lucky lad Saïd Benrahma won a copy of video game “Crash Bandicoot 4” for his standout, two-goal performance for Brentford against Fulham in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup
Arsenal midfielder Martin Ødegaard was once the proud recipient of a large fish supplied by a local supermarket after winning the Player of the Month award during his loan stint with Real Sociedad in 2019-20.
Conor Sammon received his FREE pizza from @PizzaExpress after full time on Saturday.
Thistle season ticket holders can enjoy 25% off their meal when they produce their season card in Pizza Express Byres Road. pic.twitter.com/dHi51SP7JR
— Partick Thistle FC (@PartickThistle) February 19, 2018
And last but by no means least, Partick Thistle‘s Connor Sammon looked positively overjoyed in 2018 after being presented with a large pizza by the matchday sponsors after scoring against Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.
