The Best FIFA Men's Player 2019: Analysing the 3 finalists' chances
The time of the calendar year when footballers earn rewards for their exploits is finally here. We recently witnessed the UEFA Awards gala a fortnight ago. Up next is FIFA's The Best Awards event which is scheduled for September 23rd. It promises to be very interesting.
The 10-man shortlist for the FIFA Men's Player of the Year award was released earlier this year. Recently, the list was trimmed down to the final three as Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina and Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk were shortlisted.
The three men will be battling it out for the chance to be crowned the best superstar on the planet for this year. It promises to be an intense fight as these incredible superstars all enjoyed success with their respective clubs and nations during the course of the year.
On that note, let's have a bried look at these players and analyse their chances of going home with the prestigious award.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus last summer and quickly hit the ground running in Serie A. In his debut season, he bagged 21 goals and 8 assists from 31 Serie A appearances. He also had 6 goals and 2 assists to his name to fire the Bianconeri into the quarterfinals of the Champions League, where they were knocked out by Erik ten Hag's Ajax.
Ronaldo won the Serie A title with Juventus in his first year and was voted Serie A's Most Valuable Player. He also won the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, ending up as the top scorer of the competition with 3 goals to his name.
The Portuguese enjoyed a brilliant outing both at club and international levels. However, Juve's failure in the Champions League could be a major flaw. Although his chances of defending the FIFA Men's Player of the Year award looks slim this year, he will surely give his two rivals a difficult run.