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The time of the calendar year when footballers earn rewards for their exploits is finally here. We recently witnessed the UEFA Awards gala a fortnight ago. Up next is FIFA's The Best Awards event which is scheduled for September 23rd. It promises to be very interesting.
The 10-man shortlist for the FIFA Men's Player of the Year award was released earlier this year. Recently, the list was trimmed down to the final three as Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina and Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk were shortlisted.
The three men will be battling it out for the chance to be crowned the best superstar on the planet for this year. It promises to be an intense fight as these incredible superstars all enjoyed success with their respective clubs and nations during the course of the year.
On that note, let's have a bried look at these players and analyse their chances of going home with the prestigious award.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus last summer and quickly hit the ground running in Serie A. In his debut season, he bagged 21 goals and 8 assists from 31 Serie A appearances. He also had 6 goals and 2 assists to his name to fire the Bianconeri into the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where they were knocked out by Erik ten Hag's Ajax.
Ronaldo won the Serie A title with Juventus in his first year and was voted Serie A's Most Valuable Player. He also won the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, ending up as the top scorer of the competition with 3 goals to his name.
The Portuguese enjoyed a brilliant outing both at club and international levels. However, Juve's failure in the Champions League could be a major flaw. Although his chances of defending the FIFA Men's Player of the Year award looks slim this year, he will surely give his two rivals a difficult run.
#2 Lionel Messi
Despite Barcelona's late collapse last season that saw them claim only the La Liga title, Argentine talisman Lionel Messi still had one of his most impressive campaigns in recent years individually.
Messi finished as the top scorer in the La Liga last season as well as across Europe's top 5 leagues with a whopping 36 goals and 15 assists to his name from 34 appearances. He also finished as the top scorer of the Champions League after finding the back of the net an impressive 12 times while setting up another 3 in 10 appearances in the competition.
The Argentine was in a league of his own throughout the campaign. Judging by individual performances alone, Messi has done enough to be crowned the best player in the world for the sixth time. However, Barca's failure in the Champions League could hurt his chances once again. Nevertheless, he'd be a very worthy winner of the award.
#1 Virgil Van Dijk
In 2018, we witnessed the end of the Messi-Ronaldo duopoly as Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric defied the odds and beat the duo to be crowned the best male footballer of the year. We could witness something of a similar nature this season, with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk also emerging as a serious candidate to claim the accolade.
The Dutchman was nothing short of spectacular for Liverpool last season, producing rock-solid performances from the heart of the defence to keep the team rolling. He was highly influential as the Reds ran riot on their way to claim the Champions League trophy. Not one player who faced the Dutchman was able to dribble past van Dijk throughout the campaign.
After ending up as the PFA Player of the Year for the term, the centre-back was recently honoured with the UEFA Player of the Year award. With FIFA's The Best award gala coming up this month, it'd be interesting to see if Van Dijk can become the next defender to be crowned the best player in the world since Fabio Cannavaro did it in 2006. As it stands, the Dutchman seems to be favourite for the accolade.
