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What’s the story?
FIFA announced the nominees for FIFAThe Best Men’s Player on Wednesday, across their digital platforms. The usual suspects, namely Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi made the cut while young guns such as Frenkie De Jong and Matthijs De Ligt too found themselves in the mix. Astonishingly, Bernardo Silva failed to make the list.
In case you didn’t know…
The Best FIFA Football Awards were started out in 2016, with Zurich hosting the inaugural award ceremony. Ronaldo won the prize in 2016 and 2017 before his monopoly was ended by Luka Modric in 2018.
The heart of the matter
FIFA released a 10-man shortlist for FIFA The Best Men’s Player award, which included several midfielders and attackers. Unsurprisingly, Messi and Ronaldo headed that list with both having won their domestic league competitions last term. Additionally, the Portuguese also led his nation to glory in the UEFA Nations League while the former captained his country to the semi-final stage at the Copa America.
The likes of Hazard and Mane were not too far behind with each having conjured a sensational season. While the Belgian was instrumental in Chelsea’s Europa League triumph, Mane helped Liverpool claim the Champions League.
The list also had a youthful tinge to it with De Ligt and De Jong finding a spot. Both Dutch superstars were sublime for Ajax last term as they made the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.
Mbappe, too was included courtesy a goal-laden season which saw him rack up 33 league goals. Harry Kane was the th Premier League representative in the list with the forward having powered Tottenham to the final of the Champions League.
The nominee list was completed by Liverpool stalwarts, Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. The pair was extremely influential in the Reds’ Premier League bid and helped end the Merseyside club’s wait for the Champions League.
Surprisingly, Bernardo Silva failed to make the nominee list despite having won the UEFA Nations League and the domestic quadruple in England with Manchester City. Another questionable exclusion was that of Alisson Becker of Liverpool, who starred in Liverpool and Brazil’s continental successes.
Here is the complete list of the footballers nominated for the award:
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal), Eden Hazard (Real Madrid, Belgium), Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona, Netherlands), Harry Kane (Tottenham, England), Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina), Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus, Netherlands), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, Egypt), Sadio Mane (Liverpool, Senegal), Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool, Netherlands)
What’s next?
The voting for the award has started on FIFA’s official website and one can cast one’s vote after registering for the same. The winner of FIFA The Best Men’s Player accolade would be announced on the 23rd of September, 2019 in Milan.
