Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo is the only Portuguese nominee for the ‘The Best’ awards, included in the list of 11 candidates in the category of best footballer of 2020, released today by FIFA.
Ronaldo shares the nomination with Thiago Alcântara (Bayern Munich / Liverpool), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk (all from Liverpool), Kylian Mbappé and Neymar (both Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona) and Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid).
Alisson Becker (Liverpool), Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Keylor Navas (Paris Saint-Germain), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Jan Oblak (Atlético de Madrid) and Marc-André are nominated for the best goalkeeper award. ter Stegen (FC Barcelona).
The award to distinguish the best coach will be decided between the candidates Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich) – who won the Champions League -, Julen Lopetegui (Seville) – winner of the Europa League -, Marcelo Bielsa (Leeds United), Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool) and Zinédine Zidane (Real Madrid).
The ‘The Best’ awards ceremony, which was initially scheduled for September but has been postponed due to the covid-19 pandemic, will take place on December 17, in an exclusively virtual event, FIFA announced today.
The 11 categories of the ‘The Best’ awards, male and female, will be elected by ‘captains’ and coaches from all over the world, supporters and media representatives from around the world.
The vote will take place between today and December 9th.
Argentine Lionel Messi and American Megan Rapinoe were awarded in 2019 as the best players in the world, while German Jurgen Klopp and Englishwoman Jill Ellis were elected the best coaches.
Messi won the sixth trophy for the best footballer in the world (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019), ‘taking off’ from the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, who adds up to five (2008, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2016/17) and who last year the vote ended in third place, behind Argentine and Dutchman Virgil van Dijk.
