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The fourth edition of the FIFA The Best awards were held on Monday evening at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, with numerous awards handed out to different men and women who have distinguished themselves over the last 12 months.
In a glittering ceremony graced by the creme de la creme of the footballing world and beyond, Lionel Messi won his first major individual award since 2015 and inaugural FIFA Best Men's Player of the Year, while USWNT star Megan Rapinoe was named the Women's Player of the Year following her starring role in helping her nation to her fourth world title over the summer in France.
Jurgen Klopp was also named Best Men's coach, while Jill Ellis won the female version of the award. Also, Dániel Zsóri won the FIFA Puskas award for his wonder strike in the Hungarian league match between Debreceni and Ferencvaros.
One of the highlights of the evening was the unveiling of the FIFPro XI for the year, with 11 players selected as the best in their respective positions.
The team award is decided by the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) and has been published every year since 2005.
Given its status as the sole team award decided by professional footballers around the world, a measure of objectivity is expected, as players are usually in the best position to decide on the performance levels of their teammates.
However, this has proved not to be the case over the years, as the lists have descended into nothing more than popularity contests, with players rewarded for their career performances rather than their displays in the year in question.
There have been numerous gaffes in the FIFPro XI in recent times; Andres Iniesta's inclusion in 2017 (despite spending over seven months out with injury), and Dani Alves' addition a year later but to name a few.
The latest release is no different and has some undeserving players on the list.
Here, we shall be highlighting three players who had no business being included on the FIFPro XI.
Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.
#3 Sergio Ramos
Sergio Ramos has been a spectacular servant for Real Madrid since arriving at the club from Sevilla as a fresh-faced teenage right-back in 2005.
The 32-year-old has since transformed into a no-nonsense defender and has captained the club through its most successful period in their recent history.
Ramos has earned plaudits for his never-say-die attitude and is highly regarded by his peers, evidenced by the fact that he has appeared in every FIFPro XI since 2011, in addition to his first appearance in 2008.
With 10 total FIFPro XI appearances, the Spanish international is second only to the inseparable duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (who have 13 appearances each) for the players to have appeared in the list the most, and his status as an all-time great of the game is not in doubt.
However, it is a major travesty to believe that Ramos was anywhere near being one of the best four defenders in the world over the last year.
He was the chief marshal of a defence that shipped in goals for fun last season, with their total goals conceded of 46 goals conceded from 38 league matches indicative of how shaky their backline was.
Furthermore, the Camas native controversially got himself intentionally suspended for Real Madrid's second leg Champions League clash with Ajax seemingly with the thought that the job had been done.
However, the joke was on Ramos, as Hakim Ziyech and co. put up a masterclass at the Bernabeu to unceremoniously dump the defending champions out of the tournament.
Over the last year, Ramos did not do too much worthy of attention, and in light of this, he had no reason being voted onto the 2019 FIFPro XI.
#2 Luka Modric
Luka Modric is the reigning Ballon d'Or winner, and until a few weeks ago, also had the FIFA and UEFA Men's Best Player awards in his possession.
The 34-year-old had made history by breaking the decade-long stranglehold of Messi and Ronaldo on the personal awards front after playing a starring role to help an unfancied Croatia all the way to the final of the World Cup.
However, since then, the former Tottenham Hotspur man has been pretty average, as he failed to build on the momentum generated by his award wins and was one of a host of underperforming Real Madrid stars last season.
Modric was a shadow of himself and failed to dictate the tempo of matches in ways we are accustomed to and was one of the players most culpable for Real Madrid's woeful campaign.
He was bossed out of midfield by a vibrant Ajax side, especially by Frenkie de Jong, in their Champions League clash, and this played a major role in why Real Madrid were eliminated from the competition.
Perhaps it was a reward for being the first man to wrest the Ballon d'Or from Messi and Ronaldo in a decade, but the FIFPro XI rewards performance in the preceding year, and on no account should Modric have been considered among the three best-performing midfielders in the world.
#1 Marcelo
In the history of FIFPro XI gaffes, Marcelo's inclusion in the 2019 edition has to rank as the most baffling of all.
The 31-year-old was downright poor and bordering on shambolic with his displays last season, and should have been nowhere near the discussions of the best players in the world for the year 2019.
Time and again, the Brazilian international was caught out of position, failing to carry out his duties effectively, and he was at fault for a number of goals conceded by Real Madrid, with the 2-1 loss against Girona in February where coach Eusebio Sacristan's decision to switch Portu to the right flank at half-time to exploit Marcelo played a key role in a 2-1 comeback victory.
This was one of just numerous instances when opposition managers targeted Marcelo's wing last season, as he was the weak link of a porous Real Madrid defense, and things got so bad that he reportedly had to issue an apology to his teammates over his poor form.
Indeed, Brazilian coach Tite did not see it fit to include Marcelo as part of his Copa America winning squad, and this was a fair decision, as the players he picked Felipe Luis and Alex Sandro significantly outperformed the Real Madrid man.
Even Marcelo would be the first to admit that 2019 was not his greatest year, which makes his inclusion in the 2019 FIFPro XI extremely questionable.
