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The Best Awards 2021: Nominees for Best Men’s Player revealed

Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah
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FIFA has shortlisted three players as the finalists for this year’s Best FIFA Men’s Player award.

Last year, Robert Lewandowski won the Best award for Men’s Player of the Year. The Bayern Munich star spent a wonderful campaign at Bayern, where he managed to win the treble with the Bavarians.

The Polish star has retained his place among the top three players of the year. FIFA has shortlisted Lewandowski alongside Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah as the award’s finalists.

Messi defeated Lewandowski in a close race to win his seventh Ballon d’Or last month. The pair’s presence among the finalists is not surprising. However, the award has given much-needed recognition to Salah’s incredible form by naming him among the candidates.

Salah finished seventh in the 2021 Ballon d’Or rankings, despite his talismanic presence in Liverpool’s attacking line. Jurgen Klopp slammed France Football for snubbing the Liverpool star, and it is not too hard to see why.

The Egyptian star scored 22 league goals last season, finishing a goal behind Harry Kane in the Golden Boot rankings. He is leading the league’s goalscoring charts this season as he has already scored 16 goals and provided 11 assists.

However, Salah is not the top favourite to win the award. Lewandowski was another player whose Ballon d’Or ranking generated controversy. The Bayern striker broke Gerd Muller’s record for most goals in a single Bundesliga campaign. He also won the Club World Cup and a Bundesliga title. However, he finished behind Messi in the Ballon d’Or rankings.

As for Messi, his stats this season is not as great as his rivals. However, his achievements prior to his summer move to Paris Saint-Germain are outstanding. The Argentine icon ended his nation’s 28-year major trophy drought by leading them to Copa America glory. He also won the Copa del Rey in his last season at Barcelona while finishing as La Liga’s top scorer.

FIFA will announce the winner during a ceremony on January 17.

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