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The dust has settled on the 2017-18 season, and on Monday, FIFA's The Best Awards were handed out, appreciating the efforts and endeavours of our favourite stars. In a theme that has been running for many years, there was plenty of debate in the build-up to the gala.
The aftermath seemed very divisive with multiple questionable and confusing decisions. We take a look at the various award categories and how they panned out.
Puskas Award
Given for the best goal of the past year, this might be the most divisive in nature as the award going to the Egyptian might be brilliant in its execution, but when in comparison to the other goals in the bracket, it might seem very strange to all neutrals as to how he won it.
With brilliant efforts from Pavard, Bale and Ronaldo all missing out, this is a perfect example of how fan voting can decide awards without any regard to merit.
Men's Best Coach
This was one of the less surprising choices of the night. The Frenchman was a deserved winner as he took the French squad all the way to World Cup glory, helping the young team realise its true potential.
He dedicated the award to the accomplishments of fellow nominees Zlatko Dalic (Croatia manager) and Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid manager) as well, a true touch of class.
Best Goalkeeper
Another award laced in controversy as Thibaut Courtois beat Lloris and Schmeichel to the FIFA Best Goalkeeper Award.
The Belgian did have an excellent World Cup, but if the whole season is taken into consideration, there could be a lot of names thrown into the mix. David De Gea, Allison, Ederson, Buffon, and Keylor Navas (UEFA's Best Goalkeeper of the year) would be wondering what they have to do to earn a nomination at least.
Best Women's Coach
Another deserved coach of the year award was the manager of Lyon's Women's team, Reynald Pedros. He bagged the award following a brilliant treble winning season. His Lyon team won the league, cup, and the Champions League. He was rightly recognised.
Best Fan Award
A good initiative to appreciate the fans, this time the Peru contingent of 40,000+ who had followed their team all the way to Russia were crowned winners. A sweet ending to a summer they had been waiting for since 1978.
FIFA Fair Play Award
Awarded to Lennart Thy, the German player skipped a match to donate blood to a leukemia patient in need.
FIFA Best XI
Highly controversial again because of the inclusion of Dani Alves and De Gea. The exclusion of Salah also raised questions regarding the lack of consistency in the awards. Dani Alves who missed a lot of games in 2017-18, and has yet to play a game this season was included.
De Gea was included ahead of the best goalkeeper of the year Courtois, and Salah was left out despite being in the top 3 nominees for player of the year.
FIFA Best Women's Award
The Brazilian legend Marta prevailed yet again for a 6th time to be named as the best female player on the planet. 32 years old and showing no sign of slowing down, she was holding back her tears of joy, and what the award meant to her was apparent to all.
FIFA Best Men's Award
Despite being marred in controversy regarding the highly questionable omission of Lionel Messi from the top 3, the result has been accepted at large as Luka Modric was crowned the best in the world for the amazing club and international campaign he had.
A truly endearing character, he went on to give his acceptance speech in English, Spanish, and Croatian. He later went on to appreciate the geniuses of Ronaldo and Messi, but was assured that he deserved the award keeping in mind the year he had.
A break from the Ronaldo and Messi stranglehold, and a lot of ammunition for debates. This awards gala was not routine in any sense.
