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Egypt's Mohamed Salah and Senegal's Sadio Mané are looking for a second consecutive win in the Champions League. REUTERS / Phil Noble

The absence of Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah from the podium for the Player of the Year award from the International Football Federation (FIFA) had already sparked controversy, before the ceremony The Best FIFA. The fact that the Senegalese and Egyptian do not appear more in the ideal team of the season, revealed this September 23 in Milan, has angered many fans and football specialists, including African.

The first spike came from Samuel Eto'o, present at the ceremony of the "football oscars", organized by the International Federation (FIFA), this 23 September 2019, in the prestigious setting of the Scala in Milan. Asked before the ceremony on his favorite for the title The Best FIFA Player of the Year, the Cameroonian retorted, before taking the tangent: " The best for me are Salah and Mané, but they are not there ... "

The Best FIFA: When Samuel Eto'o gets loose on the absences of Sadio Mané and Mohamed Salah

The Best FIFA Football Awards

Samuel Eto'o: "The best for me are Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané (....) but they are not there. #TheBestAwards pic.twitter.com/HeNaZ8W7Mf

Ablam GNAMESSO 🇧🇫🇧🇯🇹🇬 (@AblamGnamesso) September 23, 2019

The legendary attacker of the "Indomitable Lions", freshly retired, is far from suspecting that the Egyptian and Senegalese will be completely absent from the winners of the 2019 edition of The Best FIFA Football Awards. Indeed, the winger and the attacking midfielder could have legitimately appeared on the dream team (World11) for the 2018-2019 season. But the Belgian Eden Hazard, the Croatian Luka Modric, the French Kylian Mbappé or the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo are, unlike the two best African footballers of the moment. A result all the more strange as the two teammates finished at the foot of the podium for the title of player of the year.

ℹ️ Full breakdown of voting results here: https://t.co/k4PksekZaJ#TheBest | #FIFAFootballAwards pic.twitter.com/cymNNO4lft

#TheBest 🏆 (@FIFAcom) September 23, 2019

The forgotten Liverpool

Their club, Liverpool, was nevertheless in the spotlight on Monday night. Defender Virgil van Dijk finished second behind Argentina's Lionel Messi for the best player award. Alisson Becker was voted best goalkeeper. As for the distinction of technician of the year, she returned to the coach of the "Reds", Jürgen Klopp.

As their partners and their coach, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané nevertheless managed a great season, even if the Egyptian was a little less flamboyant than in the 2017-2018 fiscal year. They finished co-top scorers of the Championship of England, with the Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. They won the prestigious Champions League. As for the Senegalese, he reached the finals of the African Cup of Nations .

Salah? Mané? Ok ........... 😑👏 https://t.co/16mbo2B37C

Habib Beye (@BeyeHabib) September 24, 2019

Lionel Messi voted for Sadio Mané

But, obviously, this was not enough in the eyes of those who voted to establish the World11. From consultant Habib Beye to Ghana striker Christian Atsu to a crowd of fans and journalists, many have expressed their surprise, even their misunderstanding, on social networks.

Criticized, FIFA has cracked a message on Twitter to try to calm the game It has also published the results of the vote: " Dear fans, many of you ask us about the composition of World11. More than 23,000 professional footballers in 68 countries voted for this award. The opportunity to discover that Lionel Messi, he had appointed Sadio Mané footballer of the year ...

Dear fans,
Many of you ask us about the composition of World11.
More than 23,000 professional footballers in 68 countries voted for this award.
More information, including the voting procedure, can be found here: https://t.co/Ve1U4FIEA6 pic.twitter.com/11uIqrbR4N

#TheBest 🏆 (@fifacom_en) September 24, 2019