There has been only one change in the last three names that was supplied early this afternoon for the FIFA Men’s Best Player award after coallation of votes: Neymar Jnr in place of last year’s second runner up Antoine Griezmann.
And like it is the tradition, Messi and Ronaldo are the other two names.
The three had been also shortlisted back in 2015 for the award.
Cristiano Ronaldo, 32, who is most likely to win the award after lifting the UEFA Champions League for the second time in as many seasons with Real Madrid and a third time in four seasons, he was also top goal scorer of the competition even after a poor start in the group stages. In addition to that he also won the La Liga title. He will be looking forward to closing the gap between him and his archrival who has five of the award to his four.
Lionel Messi, 30, would always rue the match against Juventus that knocked them out in the quarterfinals because it cut short his dream of scoring more goals (and might have given the run of goals he had) in the competition and allowing Ronaldo sneak up and surpassing his tally by a goal. He however clinched the Copa Del Rey with Barcelona and emerged as the top scorer both in the domestic league and overall in Europe’s top flight leagues.
Neymar, 25, who left Barcelona for PSG this transfer window is not likely to win the award this time but he however produced top class performances (most remarkable was Barcelona’s come back against PSG) and was an important player in the team that won the Copa Del Rey and were runner-ups in the domestic league.
No doubt, there are many players who we wish had made the list but it has a slot of only three tight spots and the three finalists all impressed during the previous season.
The voting ceremony which involved coaches, team captains, journalists and fans had earlier closed before the shortlist was compiled and announced. The award giving ceremony will take place on the 23rd of October, 2017.
Who do you think deserves to win?
13 thoughts on “The Three Finalists For The Best FIFA Men’s Footballer of 2017”