UEFA Team of the Year 2019: N’Golo Kante snubbed to accommodate Cristiano Ronaldo

Archie Blade | 16/01/2020
UEFA Team of the Year 2019 N’Golo Kante snubbed to accommodate Cristiano Ronaldo

UEFA Team of the Year 2019: N’Golo Kante snubbed to accommodate Cristiano Ronaldo despite the former receiving more votes than the Juventus star.

UEFA unveiled their Team of the Year 2019, voted for by the fans, on Wednesday. The revelation however, left the fans a little surprised. The European governing body had changed their formation from the usual 4-3-3 to 4-2-4.

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The line-up, saw Cristiano Ronaldo pair with Robert Lewandowski on the front. It also features Sadio Mane and Lionel Messi on the flanks. Kevin De Bruyne and Frenkie De Jong were fielded behind them while Liverpool trio, Virgil Van Dijk and the fullback pairing of Andrew Robertson were joined by Matthijs De Ligt in defence with Alison on goal.

Ronaldo included in the place of N’Golo Kante

It is the Portuguese’s inclusion however, that has left many scratching their head. Despite his success over the years, Ronaldo was not at his best last season. In fact, that UEFA officials delayed the unveiling of the side by a decade; As per the Daily Mail, to manoeuvre the Juventus star in the side.

It appears that Ronaldo has taken the place of Chelsea star N’Golo Kante; who was set to be a part of the midfield trio with De Bruyne and De Jong. However, with the change of formation allowed UEFA to include the popular Ronaldo instead.

However, a spokesperson for UEFA attempted to explain the scandalous decision. They claimed that Portugal’s success in the UEFA Nations League was the catalyst for the formation change.

“The formation for this year’s team of the year was chosen to reflect the votes of the fans in parallel with the players’ achievements in UEFA competitions,” they said.

“As a result, there are five UEFA Champions League winners and four UEFA Nations League finalists. The formation changes on a regular basis and this year is no exception.”

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Post Edited By: Archie Blade
Cristiano Ronaldo N'Golo Kante

About the author

Archie Blade

Archie is a WWE and UFC Editor/Author at the SportsRush. Like most combat sports enthusiasts, his passion for watching people fight began with WWE when he witnessed a young Brock Lesnar massacre Hulk Hogan back in 2002. This very passion soon branched out to boxing and mixed martial arts. Over the years he fell in love with the theatrics that preceded the bell and the poetic carnage that followed after. Each bruise a story to tell, each wound a song of struggle, his greatest desire is to be there to witness it all. His favorite wrestler is Shawn Michaels and he believes that GSP is the greatest to ever step foot inside the octagon. Apart from wrestling, he is also fond of poetry and music.

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