Juan Mata and Sabita ‘Samba’ Bhandari have been voted by their peers as the winners of the PFA Austraffic Player of the Month for December.

The duo received the most votes from within their peer cohort, among the six players nominated for the Player of the Month in each the A-League Men and A-League Women competitions.

Mata had an amazing final month of 2025, announcing himself to the Melbourne Victory faithful with an outstanding block of form that helped turn their season around.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup winner was key to Victory’s turnaround, playing his role as an attacking midfielder to perfection, helping them secure three consecutive wins to round out the year.

This included two assists in this run against Adelaide United and Wellington Phoenix along with a starring performance in their win over Melbourne City in the local Derby.

His four assists for the campaign is the equal-most in the A-League Men, to go with 37 chances created which is also the most among all players in the competition.

Meanwhile, Samba took the A-League Women by storm in the final months of the year.

The Nepal international – who has been willed on by passionate support in almost every stadium across the opening rounds of the season by the local Nepali community – got off the mark in Wellington Phoenix colours in December, scoring a brace and adding an assist in their 7-0 thrashing of Sydney FC.

Samba added another goal in their win away to Western Sydney Wanderers, in-front of a boisterous section of fans cheering her every move at Wanderers Football Park.

Unfortunately, Samba’s season came to a cruel end the following week after rupturing her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) against Brisbane Roar.

The duo will receive a specially designed ball from PFA partners at Park SCC as a result of winning the Player of the Month. Both players will be able to choose to donate 10 balls to one of three charities – Football Empowerment, KitAid Australia and Football United.

Featured photos: Imago/ZUMA Press Wire and Cam McIntosh/Photomac

2025-26 POTM winners

A-League Men
October/November: Joe Lolley (SYD)
December: Juan Mata (MVC)

A-League Women
October/November: Kirsty Fenton (SYD)
December: Sabitra Bhandari (WEL)