Fifa Best Football Awards nominations announced with Liverpool having FOUR in running and Bielsa up for top coach
LIVERPOOL’S stunning season has seen FOUR Anfield men named on the 11-player shortlist for the Fifa The Best Football Awards.
World chiefs decided to go ahead with the annual awards ceremony, to be held virtually next month, despite the Covid crisis seeing France Football scrap their Ballon d’Or prize.
And while Liverpool failed to get beyond the last-16 stage in their quest to retain the Champions League, Jurgen Klopp’s men have by far the biggest representation in the final 11.
Injured hero Virgil van Dijk was joined by Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, and summer recruit Thiago Alcantara, in the final 11 – to be voted on by international captains and managers, fans and a media panel.
Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne is the fifth Premier League star on the shortlist.
Unsurprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo and 2019’s winner Lionel Messi feature, alongside – somewhat more debatably – PSG’s Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, with the list completed by Real Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos.
Liverpool’s Alisson Becker is on the shortlist for the goalkeeper prize.
Alisson’s rivals are red-hot favourite Manuel Neuer, PSG’s Keylor Navas, Real Madrid’s former Chelsea stopper Thibaut Courtios, Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Jan Oblak of Atletico Madrid.
And Klopp is, as expected, on the manager’s shortlist along with Bayern Munich’s Hansi Flick, Sevilla’s Julen Lopetegui and Zinedine Zidane.
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There is also a place for Leeds chief Marcelo Bielsa – a year after winning the fair play award – for steering the Elland Road side back to the top flight after a 16-year absence.
On the women’s side, five WSL stars – including England’s Lucy Bronze, Arsenal goal-machine Vivianne Miedema and Australian icon Sam Kerr – are on 11-player shortlist announced on Fifa’s website.
Miedema’s inclusion led to Arsenal calling on their famous Twitter fans to try and force the vote in the record-breaking Dutchwoman’s favour.
Manchester City and Lionesses’ Ellie Roebuck is on the goalkeeper list while Chelsea boss Emma Hayes makes it into the coach’s category.
Sophie Ingle of Chelsea and Manchester City ace Caroline Weir see their WSL strikes pit them up against Luis Suarez and Son Heung-min for the Puskas Award for the best goal.
— Arsenal Women (@ArsenalWFC) November 25, 2020
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Fifa The Best Football Awards 2020 Nominees
Men's Player
- Thiago Alcantara (Spain / FC Bayern München / Liverpool FC)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal / Juventus FC)
- Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium / Manchester City FC)
- Robert Lewandowski (Poland / FC Bayern München)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal / Liverpool FC)
- Kylian Mbappe (France / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Lionel Messi (Argentina / FC Barcelona)
- Neymar (Brazil / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Sergio Ramos (Spain / Real Madrid CF)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt / Liverpool FC )
- Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands / Liverpool FC)
Women’s Player
- Lucy Bronze (England / Olympique Lyonnais / Manchester City WFC)
- Delphine Cascarino (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Caroline Graham Hansen (Norway / FC Barcelona)
- Pernille Harder (Denmark / VfL Wolfsburg / Chelsea FC Women)
- Jennifer Hermoso (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Ji So-yun (Korea Republic / Chelsea FC Women)
- Sam Kerr (Australia / Chelsea FC Women)
- Saki Kumagai (Japan / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Dzsenifer Marozsán (Germany / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands / Arsenal WFC)
- Wendie Renard (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
Men’s Goalkeeper
- Alisson Becker (Brazil / Liverpool FC)
- Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Real Madrid CF)
- Keylor Navas (Costa Rica / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Manuel Neuer (Germany / FC Bayern München)
- Jan Oblak (Slovenia / Atlético de Madrid)
- Marc-André ter Stegen (Germany / FC Barcelona)
Women’s Goalkeeper
- Ann-Katrin Berger (Germany / Chelsea FC Women)
- Sarah Bouhaddi (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Christiane Endler (Chile / Paris Saint-Germain)
- Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden / VfL Wolfsburg / Atlético de Madrid Femenino)
- Alyssa Naeher (USA / Chicago Red Stars)
- Ellie Roebuck (England / Manchester City WFC)
Men’s Coach
- Marcelo Bielsa (Argentina / Leeds United FC)
- Hans-Dieter Flick (Germany / FC Bayern München)
- Jürgen Klopp (Germany / Liverpool FC)
- Julen Lopetegui (Spain / Sevilla FC)
- Zinedine Zidane (France / Real Madrid CF)
Women’s Coach
- Lluis Cortes (Spain / FC Barcelona)
- Rita Guarino (Italy / Juventus Women)
- Emma Hayes (England / Chelsea FC Women)
- Stephan Lerch (Germany / VfL Wolfsburg)
- Hege Riise (Norway / LSK Kvinner)
- Jean-Luc Vasseur (France / Olympique Lyonnais)
- Sarina Wiegman (Netherlands / Dutch national team)
Puskas Goal Award
- Shirley Cruz (CRC) – Costa Rica v. Panama (28 January 2020)
- Giorgian De Arrascaeta (URU) – Ceara SC v. CR Flamengo (25 August 2019)
- Jordan Flores (ENG) – Shamrock Rovers FC v. Dundalk FC (28 February 2020)
- Andre-Pierre Gignac (FRA) – UANL Tigres v. Pumas UNAM (1 March 2020)
- Sophie Ingle (WAL) – Arsenal WFC v. Chelsea FC Women (19 January 2020)
- Zlatko Junuzovic (AUT) – SK Rapid Wien v. FC Red Bull Salzburg (24 June 2020)
- Hlompho Kekana (RSA) – Mamelodi Sundowns FC v. Cape Town City FC (20 August 2019)
- Son Heung-min (KOR) – Tottenham Hotspur FC v. Burnley FC (7 December 2019)
- Leonel Quinonez (ECU) – Universidad Católica v. CSD Macara (19 August 2019)
- Luis Suarez (URU) – FC Barcelona v. RCD Mallorca (7 December 2019)
- Caroline Weir (SCO) – Manchester City WFC v. Manchester United WFC (7 September 2019)