3 players who deserved to be on FIFA's 'Player of the Year' Shortlist

#2 Antoine Griezmann

France v Croatia - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Final — Griezmann won the FIFA World Cup 2018 with France

Antoine Griezmann scored four goals in the FIFA World Cup 2018 as France became World Champions. He even scored in the World Cup Finals against Croatia. He also had 2 assists in the tournament. In the 2017/18 season, he scored 29 goals from 49 appearances for Athletico Madrid, winning the Europa League. He was also adjudged the UEFA Europa League Player of the season. Yet, Griezmann could not make it to the final three shortlist and while it has come as a surprise to many people, the player himself is not too impressed either.

In an interview given to L’Equipe, Griezmann said he was surprised that he had not made the shortlist. He further says that it is a surprise that despite winning the FIFA World Cup, there are no French players in the final three.

“It’s weird and a pity” he says, “This is a trophy that’s awarded by FIFA, right? We won a World Cup and there’s no Frenchman on the shortlist. That’s the choice, but it’s surprising.”

However, Griezmann feels that he is well placed to win the Ballon d’Or this year. Maybe, getting in at least the final three there can ease some of his pain.

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Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written more than 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 20 million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

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Edited by Vikshith R