World football governing body, FIFA has shortlisted Liverpool defender, Vigil Van Dijk, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Juventus poster boy, Cristiano Ronaldo as nominees for the 2019 Best FIFA Football Awards.
Winners in the Best FIFA Football Awards will be crowned at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on September 23, 2019, FIFA said in a statement made available to The Guardian.
Incidentally, Van Dijk last week beat Ronaldo and Messi to win the UEFA Footballer of the Year award.
Unveiling the nominees at a media event held at the San Siro stadium in the presence of FIFA Legends Laura Georges, Patrizia Panico, Santiago Solari and Gianluca Zambrotta, FIFA also named Lucy Bronze (England/Olympique Lyonnais), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride) and Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC) as the nominees for the Best FIFA Women’s Player award.
Pep Guardiola of Spain/Manchester City, Jürgen Klopp of Germany and Liverpool, as well as Mauricio Pochettino of Argentina/Tottenham Hotspur are the nominees for the Best FIFA Men’s Coach awards. The coaches are all based in England.
Jill Ellis of the U.S women national team, Phil Neville of England and Sarina Wiegman of Holland are the nominees for the Best FIFA Women’s Coach, while Allison Becker of Liverpool, Ederson of Manchester City and Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Barcelona are the nominees for the Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper award.
The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper nominees are Christiane Endler (Chile/Paris Saint-Germain), Hedvig Lindahl (Sweden/Chelsea/VfL Wolfsburg) and Sari van Veenendaal (Netherlands/Arsenal/Atlético Madrid), while Lionel Messi, Juan Quintero of River Plate and Dániel Zsóri of Debrecen are the contenders in the FIFA Puskás Award category.
