Morena Mothupi
World football’s royalty ascended their respective thrones on Monday, as FIFA honoured The Best of the game.
Poland captain and FC Bayern Munich superstar, Robert Lewandowski walked away with the coveted Men’s Player of the Year accolade.
He beat strong contenders, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah.
Messi was instrumental in Argentina’s Copa America triumph in July last year – his first international title.
Salah, on the other hand, didn’t have the most remarkable 2021, by his standards, but he still managed to finish as the third best player.
The Egyptian came second in the race for the Premier League golden boot and his Liverpool side got no silverware last season.
Real Madrid captain Karim Benzema, French star N’Golo Kante, the Paris Saint-Germain duo of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe and Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne were among those to crack the top 10.
It is a great honor and pleasure to receive the title of FIFA The Best Men's Player 🏆
— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) January 17, 2022
Thank you for your votes and your support 🙏#TheBest @FIFAWorldCup @FIFAcom pic.twitter.com/GdLwawCNK8
Three-time FIFA Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo received The Best FIFA Special Award for men’s football, in honour of his international career. He is sitting on 115 goals from 188 games for Portugal, and counting.
Alexia Putellas was recognised for her phenomenal leadership of FC Barcelona Femeni in the 2020/21 season.
The Spanish giants bagged a treble, including the Uefa Women’s Champions League, the Primera Division and Copa de la Reina de Futbol.
The 27-year-old Putellas saw off competition from Chelsea’s Sam Kerr and teammate Jennifer Hermoso to be named Women’s Player of the Year.
Surprisingly though, the 2021 Women’s FIFA FIFPRO Team of the Year didn’t include any of the shortlisted trio or any Barca players for that matter.
The Barca skipper also made history with her win on Monday night, she became the first Spanish female footballer to win women’s football’s biggest individual award.
— Alexia Putellas (@alexiaputellas) January 17, 2022
Chelsea Football Club was also a big winner on the night in Zurich. The men’s manager Thomas Tuchel and the women’s mentor Emma Hayes scooped the Coach of the Year prizes, while Eduoard Mendy took home the Goalkeeper of the Year achievement.
Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Erik Lamela’s goal against Arsenal in the North London Derby of March 2021, was regarded the best of the lot, earning him the Puskas trophy.
The awards ceremony wouldn’t have been anything without the awarding of the FIFA Fair Play Award and it rightly went to the Denmark national team, Danish medical team and coaching staff. This was for their heroics in the Euro 2020 game between the Danes and Finland, when Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field from cardiac arrest.
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