Messi vs Ronaldo vs Van Dijk: Who has the most chance of winning FIFA Men’s player of the year 2019 at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony at the Teatro all Scala in Milan on Monday 23 September.
FIFA has announced the shortlist for their awards ahead of the Best FIFA Football awards. The Governing body wrote on their website:
“Voting from the key voices in the football community – players, coaches, fans and media – has helped determine the finalists’ for each award.”
Also read: Bursaspor’s Iasmin Latovlevici scored a Puskas award worthy goal last night
The award that most people are looking forward to is the FIFA Men’s player of the year award. The 3 men shortlist is comprised of the usual suspects of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil Van Dijk. The winner for this competition will be selected by a panel of experts chosen by FIFA, comprised of former goalkeepers and strikers.
Who will be #TheBest?
We now know the finalists 👇
— FIFA (@FIFAcom) September 2, 2019
It was Virgil Van Dijk who came on top during the UEFA awards for the Best Player of the season. However, that will play little to no part here. The three men are on equal footing and we will look to unravel the three-way dreadlock of Messi vs Ronaldo vs Van Dijk to make a prognosis on who is the likelier of the 3 to clinch the prestigious award.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The joint record winner has made it to the list on the back of a trophy laden season. The Portuguese Ace won the Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana with Juventus and clinched the UEFA Nations League with Portugal, beating Netherlands in the Final. Cristiano Ronaldo won the award 2 years in a row before his former teammate Luka Modric pipped him to the award last season after a phenomenal showing with both club and country.
Ronaldo has failed to notch the numbers he is usually associated with. Ronaldo scored 21 goals in the Serie A and 28 goals and 10 assists in total for Juventus last season. However, most of his goals came at crunch situations and helped bail the team out.
His hattrick against Atletico Madrid and Switzerland proved how crucial he is to his team and their chances. Winning trophies in plenty keeps him in good stead. However, the fact that he has been outperformed both in Europe and Italy hamper his chances of adding to his 5 awards.
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi led Barcelona to a second consecutive La Liga. The club had the chance to win the treble and were in a very good position to do so. They were 3-0 up in the Champions League semi-final and had already reached the final of the Copa Del Rey.
However, a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield and a loss to Valencia meant that the club had to settle for the League title. A very good campaign has been marginalized by two very excruciating defeats that left a bitter taste in the mouth of the players and supporters.
Individually though, Lionel Messi has shone through and through. The Argentine Maestro scored a whopping 51 goals and 22 assists. The fact that his nearest competitor in Europe, Robert Lewandowski, scored 11 less just goes to show how dominant Messi was last season.
In total Messi found the back of the net 54 times. He could only score 3 times for Argentina. His disappointing showing for Argentina is another point against him. Had he won the Copa America with his country, the path to win a 6th award would have become much easier. However, his individual exploits are nothing to scoff at.
He’s had a season many strikers around the world would give an arm and leg for. Will it be enough for him to clinch the award though? Lionel Messi would certainly hope so.
Virgil Van Dijk
Virgil Van Dijk has had a dream season for a defender. Long believed to be expendables, Van Dijk has changed the narrative by leading Liverpool’s charge in the Premier League and the Champion’s league. Liverpool conceded the least goals in the Premier league and the Dutchman has to be thanked for that.
Van Dijk won 76.3% of his duels in the league, more than any other defender in Europe’s top 5 leagues. He played more minutes for Liverpool than any other outfield player. No player in the Premier League managed to dribble the ball past him last season. In 59 appearances for his club and country, managing 9 goals and 4 assists on top of his defending.
Liverpool won the Champions League and missed the Premier League by a single point. Internationally, Van Dijk led Netherlands to the final of the UEFA Nation’s league, losing to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal. The Centre back has had a season that is beaming with both Individual and team glory. Both Messi and Ronaldo have failed on front or the other but the Dutchman has managed to struck a balance to have a complete season that most others only dream of.
It is for this reason; we believe that the winner of Messi vs Ronaldo vs Van Dijk would see the latter come out the victor once again; whether Rio Ferdinand agrees or not.
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