6 footballing personalities who did not vote for either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in the FIFA Best Player Award

Chris Coleman (Wales) – Gareth Bale, Alexis Sanchez, Jamie Vardy

jamie vardy and alexis sanchez — Jamie Vardy and Alexis Sanchez ran their socks off for their respective teams

There was no doubt whatsoever that Wales manager Chris Coleman would pick Welsh talisman Gareth Bale as his number one pick. What is surprising though is the fact that Coleman went for Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy as his second and third pick respectively.

Alexis Sanchez is undoubtedly the heartbeat of this Arsenal side. The Chilean gives everything on the pitch and was instrumental in Arsenal’s second place in the League. What may have convinced Coleman to pick Sanchez though was Chile’s spectacular Copa America Centenario victory where they defeated Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the final.

And that brings us to Coleman’s third pick, Jamie Vardy. After everything that the man has achieved last year can anyone begrudge his place on Coleman’s list? However, on footballing talent alone, Messi and Ronaldo definitely deserved a place ahead of Sanchez and Vardy on this list.

About the author

A Bengaluru lad through and through, Ashwin Hanagudu is a huge fan of Liverpool and unsurprisingly pledges his sworn allegiance to RCB in the IPL. With over 8+ years of experience in this field, Ashwin manages multiple verticals at Sportskeeda and as of July 2024 is the most-read author in the football section.

Apart from his duties at Sportskeeda, Ashwin Hanagudu is also an active table tennis player and has played multiple state ranking and national tournaments representing Karnataka.

A huge sports fan, some of the athletes and sportspersons he admires in no particular order are Virat Kohli, Steven Gerrard, Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Neeraj Chopra and PV Sindhu

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Edited by Staff Editor