Paris (AFP)
Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the three finalists for the Fifa award for best player of the year ("The Best") awarded on December 17, FIFA announced Friday, the French Wendie Renard joining the trio in contention for the best player.
The Polish striker from Bayern is the favorite after his brilliant career in C1, but he will have to rule out Messi, best Fifa player last year, as well as Ronaldo who is also a regular at the trophy.
The winners are chosen by a vote of the captains and coaches of the national teams, a group of more than 200 journalists, as well as supporters consulted online from November 25 to December 9.
In the absence of a Ballon d'Or this year, the main distinctions have so far been awarded by UEFA, which on 1 October won Lewandowski in the men's category, as well as the Danish Pernille Harder.
The striker transferred from Wolfsburg to Chelsea at the start of the season has been selected for the women's award "The Best" where she will be, to succeed Megan Rapinoe, in competition with the English defender of Manchester City Lucy Bronze, crowned with Lyon this summer in the Champions League alongside Lyon captain Wendie Renard.
OL goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi is one of the three finalists in her category, along with Chilean Paris goalkeeper SG Christiane Endler and American Alyssa Naeher, a Chicago Red Stars player.
Among the men, the best goalkeeper of the year will be the German from Bayern Manuel Neuer, crowned European champion in August, the Brazilian from Liverpool Alisson Becker or the Slovenian from Atlético Madrid Jan Oblak.
Argentina's Marcelo Bielsa, who was promoted to the Premier League with Leeds, is a candidate for the male coach of the year award, alongside Germans Hansi Flick (Bayern Munich) and Jürgen Klopp (Liverpool).
On the women's side, Frenchman Jean-Luc Vasseur (Lyon) is one of the finalists along with Chelsea manager Emma Hayes and Netherlands coach Sarina Wiegman.
© 2020 AFP