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Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk opted against voting for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the 2021 FIFA The Best Men's Player award. The 30-year-old centre-back instead picked his Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah in first position.
Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski was the winner of The Best Men's Player of the year following an excellent season in Germany. The 33-year-old forward netted 48 goals in 40 appearances for the Bavarian giants last season.
The Polish forward secured 48 points, which was enough to beat Lionel Messi (44) and Mohamed Salah (39) to the award. It is worth noting that this is Lewandowski's second consecutive FIFA The Best award and is now level with Cristiano Ronaldo with two accolades. The Manchester United forward won the prestigious award back in 2016 and 2017.
Captains of all national teams are allowed to cast their votes for FIFA The Best. Since Virgil van Dijk is the skipper for the Netherlands, he was allowed to pick his top three players and coaches.
The Liverpool defender picked Robert Lewandowski in second place and Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante in third. Kante went on to finish in fifth position behind Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema. Jorginho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Kevin De Bruyne and Neymar rounded out the top 10.
This is the first time that Ronaldo has failed to finish inside the top three for this award.
Virgil van Dijk also went with Thomas Tuchel as his first-choice pick for men's coach of the year. The Chelsea tactician did win the award after guiding the Blues to the Champions League title in 2021.
Van Dijk's other two picks were Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and former Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick.
Virgil van Dijk finished in the top three of 2019 FIFA The Best alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi
Virgil van Dijk finished second in the 2019 edition of FIFA The Best award. The former Southampton defender finished second to Lionel Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo was third behind the two aforementioned players.
Van Dijk was instrumental in Liverpool's success under Jurgen Klopp that year. The 30-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the modern game.
It is also worth mentioning that neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo picked each other whilst casting their vote for FIFA The Best. Messi went with his fellow Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar while Ronaldo selected eventual winner Robert Lewandowski.
