The best soccer player and best soccer player in Europe are named

The UEFA press service named the candidates for the award for the best football player of the 2018/19 season. They were Barcelona striker Lionel Messi, Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo, and Liverpool defender Virgil van Dyck.

The Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA ) named the nominees for the award for the best football player of the 2018/19 season.



Among them are striker and captain of Barcelona and Argentina's national team Lionel Messi, Juventus striker and Portuguese national team Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Liverpool defender and Netherlands national team Virgil van Dyck.

According to the UEFA press service, the award will be presented to the winner on August 29 in Monaco at the draw of the UEFA Champions League 2019/20 group stage. Then the best player of the Old World will receive her award.

The shortlist for men's awards was made up of a special jury, which included 80 coaches of clubs participating in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League and Europa League last season, as well as 55 journalists from all UEFA associations selected by the European Sports Publishing Association (ESM).

The jury members selected three, in their opinion, the best players, the first of which received five points, the second - three and the third - one. At the same time, coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team.

In addition to Messi, Ronaldo and van Dyck, the list of ten players included goalkeeper Alisson Becker (Liverpool and Brazil), forwards Sadio Mane(Liverpool and Senegal), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool and Egypt), Eden Hazard (“ Chelsea ”/ Real Madrid and Belgium), defender Mattis de Light (Ajax / Juventus and the Netherlands), midfielder Frankie de Jong (Ajax / Barcelona and the Netherlands) and striker Rahim Sterling (Manchester City) and England).

In addition, a separate jury was created, which determined a shortlist for representatives of women's football. The women's jury included coaches from the 12 best female teams of the UEFA ranking (including nine European teams participating in the recent 2019 World Cup), coaches of the quarter-finalists of the 2018/19 UEFA Women's Champions League and 20 selected women's soccer-specific journalists from ESM.

As a result, the list of three nominees is as follows: Amandine Henry (France), Lucy Bronz (England) and Ada Hegerberg (Norway). It is noteworthy that all three football players - players of the French "Lyon" - the current winner of the Women's Champions League and the most titled club in the history of the tournament (six titles).

Let us dwell on the three main contenders among men.

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Messi last season won the Barcelona championship for the tenth time, and also became the Champions League top scorer, scoring 12 goals. In the semi-finals of the tournament, his team lost to the future winner - Liverpool. Ronaldo won the League of Nations in the Portuguese national team and for the first time in his career became the champion of Italy in the Juventus. Van Dyck is the winner of the 2018/18 Champions League season. The Dutchman was recognized as the best player in the finals with Tottenham Hotspur (2-0).

It is worth noting that all three also got on the shortlist of ten football players for the title of the best player in the world from FIFA (the award ceremony will be held on September 23 at the famous Milan Scala Theater).

So who has the greatest chance of a reward? Virgil van Dyck amazed many football fans with his highly reliable defense game both at the club level and at the national team level. His “Liverpool” spent a terrific season, until the last round of the Premier League fighting with Manchester City for the championship. Van Dyck gnawed countless balls near his own penalty box, and also brilliantly acted inside her on the second floor. In addition, for the Reds that season, he scored six goals in all tournaments, adding three more for the national team of his country (two for Germany and one for Belarus).

Messi spent another statistically incredible season. The Argentinean scored 52 goals in 51 matches for Barca. Yes, he was once again unable to win America's Cup with his team, taking the bronze of the tournament. But, it seems, everyone has already reconciled that Messi in Barça and Messi in the Argentine national team are two completely different players.

Ronaldo in his first season at Juventus became the champion of Italy. However, the level of competition in Serie A leaves much to be desired, as eight consecutive Juve championships speak of - in 45 matches for the club, the Portuguese scored 30 times.

Most likely, Messi will receive the award once again, who once again scored more goals in his great career than he spent matches on the field.

The second place should be taken by van Dyck. By the way, the last defender recognized as the best footballer in the world is the Italian Fabio Cannavaro , who received the award back in 2006.

Well, Ronaldo will get the bronze.