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FIFA got the world talking when it released its list of 10 players nominated for the 2019 edition of The Best Men's Player. The list had a number of surefire nominees including perennial award winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, as well as the man who many believe is the favorite to clinch the prize; Virgil Van Dijk.
As expected, the list met with a lot of scrutiny, with many questioning the exclusion of certain individuals including Bernardo Silva and Alisson Becker, while others wondered about the addition of certain names.
FIFA awards have not been without controversies over the years, from reportedly changing initial votes of voters to making questionable exclusions from its list of nominees, and this year has not been an exception.
In this piece, we shall be taking a look at three players who should not have made it to the top ten nominees for The Best FIFA Men's Player this year.
#3 Mohamed Salah
If this nomination served as a deference to performance in 2018, then Mohamed Salah is more than deserving of his spot; but then again, Luka Modric would have also made the list were that the case.
The nominees for the 2019 Best Men's Player award were judged on their performances and achievements from July 16 2018, to July 19, 2019 and with this in mind, it makes one wonder what Mo Salah is doing on the list.
The Egyptian international might have jointly won the Premier League Golden Boot, but he went on an eight-game scoreless streak in the crunch period between February and March which would have derailed Liverpool's charge domestically and on the continent but for the performance of Sadio Mane during this time.
On the continent, Salah could only weigh in with five goals from 12 Champions League matches, and played no part in Liverpool's historic comeback victory over Barcelona in the semifinal due to a concussion, although to his credit, he did open the scoring in the final to help The Reds to their sixth European trophy.
Perhaps most damning of all, on the international stage, Salah failed to shine, watching on as Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez upstaged him on home soil in the Africa Nations Cup, as Egypt got knocked out in the second round of a tournament they were heavily favored to win.
Though Mo Salah did not have a poor campaign by any stretch of the imagination, there were a number of players more critical to Liverpool's performance last season, and given his under-performance at key stages last season, he should not have been nominated for the 2019 FIFA Best Men's Player award.
#2 Frenkie de Jong
Ajax blew everyone away with their fairy-tale campaign last season, and Frenkie de Jong was an integral member of the squad that made it all the way to the semifinal of the Champions League and won a domestic double.
His performance for Ajax was enough for him to seal a mega move to Barcelona last February, and the Dutch international would expect to continue his upward trajectory at Nou Camp.
Given that he was a pillar of Ajax's breathtaking campaign, it might seem a tad harsh to classify him as undeserving of his spot on the list of nominees, but a holistic breakdown of the facts lends more credence to this viewpoint.
For starters, the 22-year-old made 52 appearances in all competitions for Ajax, scoring and assisting in just four goals each.
While it is pertinent to note that de Jong's game does not revolve around making too many contributions in the final third rather focusing on retaining and distributing possession, it could be argued that Dusan Tadic, Matthijs de Ligt and Andre Onana played more significant roles in Ajax's campaign than the midfielder.
This writer holds nothing against the Dutch international and actually considers him to be one of the brightest young prospects in world football, but to suggest that he is among the 10 best players in the world is baffling to say the least.
To put this in context, on the list of 10 players, Frenkie de Jong is the only midfielder present; so in essence, FIFA is telling us that he was the best performing midfielder in the world last season. Really?
While the youngster might have had his breakout campaign, nominating him for the FIFA Best Men's Player award was preposterous, especially seeing as it came at the expense of a certain Bernardo Silva who was by far the best midfielder in all of Europe last season.
#1 Harry Kane
FIFA have made a whole lot of blunders in their almost three decades of handing out individual awards, but Harry Kane's inclusion in the nominees for Best Player in 2019 has to rank high up there with those
For all of the top quality forwards who were omitted, Kane's inclusion looks all the more contentious in contrast. Kane missed a whopping 91 days (17 matches) of action due to injury in 2018/2019, played no part in Tottenham's knockout run in the Champions League (after getting injured in the last eight clash with Manchester City), was rushed to play the final and offered next to nothing against Liverpool; with many faulting Mauricio Pochettino for starting him over Lucas Moura, but still found a way to make it to the list of best 10 players in the world.
Kane has been arguably the best striker in the world over the last five years, but it is rather puzzling that in the 2016/2017 season when he scored 29 league goals, successfully retaining his Golden Boot and outscoring both Messi and Ronaldo in the calendar year, he could only make it to 24th place in the ranking of Best Men's Player, but in a season which saw him score just 17 league goals, he has made it to the top 10. Defies logic, isn't it?
Fabio Quagiarella, Raheem Sterling, Nicolas Pepe, Luka Jovic, just to name a few, are among the many forwards who outperformed Harry Kane over the course of the last year; so the Tottenham man should feel lucky to have included in the exalted list.
Disclaimer: The views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of Sportskeeda.
