The Best FIFA Men's Player 2019: 3 deserving candidates who are missing from the 10-man shortlist

#1 Bernardo Silva

Bernardo Silva was brilliant for club and country last season

The Portuguese star was on fire last season and was seen as a genuine contender for the FIFA's Best Player of the Year for 2019 at the start of the summer.

However, Bernardo Silva has been strangely overlooked in the final 10 shortlist for the award and it is extremely difficult to understand why. The Portuguese was one of the players of the season in the league and his impact with both club and country was outstanding to say the least.

Bernardo Silva ended the season with the domestic treble to his name and then carried that form into the UEFA Nations League for Portugal.

He was instrumental in his country's triumph at the tournament and the Portuguese was deservedly named the Player of the Tournament, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Silva had an equally telling impact with his club, helping City recover from the pangs of losing the talismanic Kevin de Bruyne at the start of the season and then becoming the heartbeat of Pep Guardiola's team.

The Portuguese is extremely versatile and mixes silky touch with steely resolve on the field. Bernardo Silva should be disappointed on missing out from FIFA's 10 man shortlist, but in the eyes of football fans, he already is a champion.

About the author

Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Alan John