3 Players who didn’t deserve to be in the FIFA Best XI Shortlist
The annual shortlisting of players to find out who are the best players in their position was completed on September 3rd 2018 and the awards are soon to be announced on the 24th of September later this month. Like every year there have been some exclusions and inclusions which have raised a few eyebrows.
The controversial omission of Lionel Messi from the ‘Top 3’ players despite his double winning season with Barcelona has made me think if there were any such discrepancies in the 55 players shortlist as well.
Here are the 3 players which I feel are not deserving of a place in the shortlist solely on the basis of their performance last season and the World Cup.
#3 Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus & PSG)
Yep, I’ve gone for the big one straight away. There is no denying the fact that the Italian veteran is an absolute gold standard when it comes to Goalkeepers and professionals in general, but to say that he was one of the World’s 5 Best Keepers for the season gone by would be wrong.
Firstly, his Italian side was absent from the World Cup, and he was part of an ultimately underwhelming Juventus side in the Champions League. In the Serie A as well he was 7th for clean sheets and not even in the Top 10 for saves. These numbers are not a good reading for the prospective best goalkeeper in the World and very simply put, there could have been another more deserving keeper in his place.