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The prospect of a new season of football in the coming weeks will do little to make us forget the electrifying performances in the recently-concluded campaign. The next couple of months will see a juxtaposing review of those displays to determine the winners of an illustrious series of individual awards like the Ballon d'Or, FIFA Best and UEFA Best Men's Player of the Year.
On Wednesday, FIFA set the ball rolling by announcing their list of ten nominees for the FIFA The Best Men's Player award. Regulars like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo made the cut with the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Eden Hazard, Harry Kane, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe, Mohamed Salah, and Virgil van Dijk also joining them.
The award recognises the player who has outplayed all other players in Europe in the preceding year. The winner is often decided based on their performances in domestic, continental and international competitions throughout the season.
With the nominees now out in the open, we take a look at the top five contenders for the 2019 FIFA Best Men's Player award, picked from the shortlist after all competitions, for club and country, have come to an end.
#4 Eden Hazard for Chelsea (currently Real Madrid) and Belgium
Eden Hazard enjoyed a scintillating farewell campaign as he ended his seven-year association with Chelsea to complete a dream move to Real Madrid this summer.
The Belgium international was one of the major reasons why the Blues will be making a return to the Champions League, as he helped the team to the Europa League title and a third-place finish in the Premier League.
The 28-year-old tallied 21 goals and 17 assists in all competitions and was directly involved in more goals than any other player in the Premier League. The forward netted 16 goals and provided 15 assists in the English top-flight to take his overall goal contribution to a staggering 31.
The former Blues superstar remains one of the best players in the Belgian squad but failure to at least reach the UEFA Nations League semi-finals after a defeat to Switzerland will do little to boost his chances at winning the award this time around.
#4 Matthijs de Ligt for Ajax (currently Juventus) and the Netherlands
In a shortlist with a fair number of young players, it's difficult to overlook Matthijs de Ligt, who was not only Ajax's youngest captain but an incredibly successful one at that.
A product of Ajax's famed youth academy, the 19-year-old guided the Dutch giants to a league and cup double as well as the semi-finals of the Champions League in the 2018-19 season.
The 2018 Golden Boy winner turned an endearing squad of young players into surprising favourites for the European title, with the dream appearing even closer when he famously netted the winning goal in the quarter-finals of the elite competition to kick Serie A champions Juventus straight out of the competition.
Even as a teenager, De Ligt's intelligence and maturity form much of his calm presence at the centre of the Ajax and Dutch defence. These qualities have earned him several admirers in Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain and saw Juventus eventually signing him for a combined fee of €75 million.
Internationally, the teenager was an influential figure alongside Virgil van Dijk as the Netherlands progressed to the final of the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League.
Despite the title-winning exploits of those more experienced than him, De Ligt stands in a league of his own and remains a favourite to win the FIFA Men's Best Player award at the end of the year.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus and Portugal)
Cristiano Ronaldo remains a perennial contender for the FIFA Best Men's Player award, despite the many doubters of his credentials this year. A debut season in the Italian top-flight, that many considered to be average by his standards, still saw him win two trophies in the form of the Supercoppa Italiana and the Serie A title.
The 34-year-old finished his campaign as the Serie A's Player of the Year after netting 21 goals and providing 8 assists in 31 appearances for the Bianconeri. He tallied a total of 28 goals in all competitions as he unsurprisingly proved to be the protagonist in the UEFA Champions League as well.
The Portugal international completed a memorable comeback against Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16 stages of the European competition by scoring a spectacular hat-trick to fire the Old Lady to the quarter-finals.
Juventus eventually lost the semi-final spot after a defeat to Ajax but Ronaldo was quick to make up for the European trophy with an international title as he led Portugal to UEFA Nations League glory with a win over the Netherlands.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner played a key role in Portugal's journey to the finals as he scored yet another hat-trick in their semi-final victory over Switzerland.
Ronaldo's chances at winning the FIFA Best Men's Player award was initially thought to have cooled down as other players overtook his place in terms of individual performances. A second trophy with Portugal has, however, proven that his challenge for the award is far from over.
#2 Lionel Messi (Barcelona and Argentina)
If anyone has endured a roller-coaster of a campaign last term, it's Lionel Messi. It was initially thought that the stars had aligned for the mercurial Argentine's first season as Barcelona captain as the Catalan giants looked well on their way to a treble.
The Blaugrana hardly had any competitors for La Liga, with arch-rivals Real Madrid suffering a grand crisis, and eventually won the league for a consecutive year. Messi played the starring role in the club's domestic campaign, dominating almost every attacking stat in the Spanish top-flight and tallying an award-winning 36 league goals. He further provided 13 assists to take his direct goal contribution in Spain to 49.
Barcelona were also thriving in the Champions League and were overwhelming favourites to take home the European trophy after beating Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg of the semi-finals. However, the Reds orchestrated one of the biggest comebacks in continental football history to beat the Spanish champions 4-0.
Despite the collapse, Messi found himself at the top of the Champions League's goalscoring charts at the end of the competition, having tallied 12 goals and 3 assists. At the end of the season, the forward accumulated a staggering 51 goals in all competitions for the Blaugrana.
The trip to Anfield proved to be the first of many collapses as Barcelona went on to lose their Copa del Rey final to Valencia, dashing all hopes of completing a domestic double as compensation for their European disappointment.
Internationally, Messi was embroiled in controversy as Argentina crashed out of the 2019 Copa America following a defeat to Brazil in the semi-finals. The 32-year-old accused CONMEBOL of rigging the tournament and setting it up for the Selecao to win.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner's performances in an Argentina shirt were far less spectacular than the ones for his club and could prove to be a major stumbling block in his race for the FIFA Men's Best Player and Ballon d'Or awards.
Having said that, his international pursuits this summer cannot take away from his scintillating individual campaign for Barcelona and if there's anything that could take him all the way this award season, it is his pure genius last term.
#1 Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and the Netherlands)
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker may have been controversially snubbed from FIFA's ten-man shortlist but the Reds brigade can rejoice in the fact that they have a worthy contender in Virgil van Dijk.
A record-breaking sum of £75 million never looked so less as Liverpool are reaping the harvests of Van Dijk's signing from Southampton last year. Under the leadership of the centre-back, the Reds defence, comprising of Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, transformed into one of the best in Europe.
The Dutchman's stature, ability and reading of the game made him impenetrable and even made way for one of the most infamous statistics from the 2018-19 campaign. The stat claims that the defender has not been dribbled past in any competitive game in the preceding campaign with Leroy Sane believed to be the only player to have done so in a friendly.
The 28-year-old was an influential figure in Liverpool's incredible 97-point haul in the Premier League and his exploits even earned him the 2019 PFA Player of the Year award. He also played a pivotal role in Liverpool's journey to the Champions League title, a victory that has further propelled him to the forefront of the individual award race.
Internationally, Van Dijk led the Netherlands to the inaugural UEFA Nations League finals but while he was able to stifle Cristiano Ronaldo, he was unable to stop Portugal from getting the better of the Dutch side.
