Two Champions League finals, one winner’s medal and a Premier League near-miss in 18 months emphasise the effect Virgil Van Dijk has had on Liverpool. A commanding presence and calm leader on the pitch, he was recognised by being named UEFA player of the year last week.
He is joined in the category by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentinian star was controversially omitted from the shortlist for the first time last year but is back after scoring 51 goals, including a brilliant free-kick in the Champions League semi-final first leg for Barcelona against Liverpool.
Portuguese superstar Ronaldo won Serie A in his first season with Juventus. He was the inaugural winner of the award in its current guise in 2016 and is now a four-time finalist.
The Best FIFA Goalkeeper
Alisson had a huge impact at Liverpool in his first season (Mike Egerton/PA)
Alisson Becker won the Premier League’s Golden Glove with 21 clean sheets in 38 matches in his first season in England. He played a key part in Liverpool’s Champions League victory, not least the last-minute save he made to prevent a draw against Napoli which would have knocked them out at the group stage.
Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson and Barcelona’s Marc-Andre Ter Stegen are the other shortlisted men. A domestic treble winner with City, Alisson’s Brazil team-mate kept 20 clean sheets. Ter Stegen won LaLiga with Barcelona earlier this year, with 16 clean sheets in 35 matches.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
The Best Men’s Coach
A photo posted by on
After missing out the previous year Jurgen Klopp guided Liverpool to Champions League victory in Madrid and also pushed City all the way in a thrilling title race.
Pep Guardiola secured back-to-back Premier League titles and completed a domestic treble in 2019 with his side playing scintillating football. Came up short in the Champions League having reached the quarter-finals.
Mauricio Pochettino completes a Premier League clean sweep in this category after leading Tottenham to their first Champions League final, beating Borussia Dortmund, City and Ajax after coming through a tough group.
The Best Women’s Player
Bronze was one of the Lionessess stars at the Women’s World Cup (John Walton/PA)
Lucy Bronze was a standout performer for England’s Lionessess on their run to the World Cup semi-finals and was recently named UEFA player of the year.
She is up against two members of the United States’ World Cup-winning team, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan. Rapinoe became the poster girl for the competition as much for her forthright opinions as her play on the pitch as the US clinched victory. She was also the tournament’s Golden Boot winner with six goals. Morgan scored five goals in the US’s opening game against Thailand to equal the World Cup single-game record set in 1991.
She also finished the tournament with six goals, losing out to Rapinoe on a fewest minutes tie-breaker.
The Best Women’s Coach
Neville guided England to the Women’s World Cup semi-finals (Richard Sellers/PA)
Phil Neville re-energised England Women and guided them to the World Cup semi-final in France, where they lost to the US.
The Americans’ coach – Portsmouth-born Jill Ellis – joins Neville on the shortlist along with Holland coach Sarina Wiegman, who led the European nation to the final.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
FourFourTwo was launched in 1994 on the back of a World Cup that England hadn’t even qualified for. It was an act of madness… but it somehow worked out. Our mission is to offer our intelligent, international audience access to the game’s biggest names, insightful analysis... and a bit of a giggle. We unashamedly love this game and we hope that our coverage reflects that.
