The 24 nominees for The Best FIFA Men’s Player award were announced Thursday.
The list will be whittled down to three final nominees by votes from national team coaches, international captains, select media, and fans. The voting closes Sept. 7, with the ceremony taking place Oct. 23 in London.
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo is a clear favourite to collect the prize, but his adversary at Barcelona, Lionel Messi, is also in contention for the gong in a shortlist comprised entirely of players who plied their trade in Europe last season.
The inaugural Best FIFA Football Awards show was held in Zurich in 2016, with Ronaldo taking top honours in the men’s category. Carli Lloyd was named Best FIFA Women’s Player, and former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri beat Zinedine Zidane to the coaches’ accolade.
Here are the 24 contenders for The Best FIFA Men’s Player distinction:
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Reading the tea leaves about what the Denver Broncos want to see before coach Vance Joseph names a starting quarterback has been a popular summer activity for the team’s faithful.
Folks have tried to decide how much experience will matter, how much arm strength will matter, how much practice will matter, how much the preseason games will matter. There are some who believe it only matters that one quarterback was selected in the first round — and the Broncos moved up to do it — and the other was not.
But as the Broncos try to decide if 2016 starter Trevor Siemian or 2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch should be first string, the team’s top football decision-maker, John Elway, let the cat out of the bag — at least a little bit — after two days of joint practices with the San Francisco 49ers this week.
“We’d like the decision made by itself,” Elway said. “We’ve talked about that decision being made by itself. We want one of them to take the reins and take over; it would be the ideal situation. We’re getting through this game and we’ll go from there, see what happens.”
This is not the first time Elway has hinted at this or even offered it as the key piece. But Thursday afternoon, Elway knew exactly what he was saying. As the second preseason game approaches, Joseph is headed toward a decision and he and Elway are on the same page on this, so anything Elway said publicly this week is no surprise.
Paxton Lynch made some “big-time throws” in practice Thursday, Broncos coach Vance Joseph said. Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
It’s clear that Lynch’s arm alone won’t be enough for him to win it, and Siemian’s timing and consistency won’t be enough for him to win it. The Broncos will name a starter, possibly as soon as next week, if they see what they want to see Saturday night against the 49ers. Or they could just get tired of waiting, so they might pick one and hope for the best.
But the Broncos are still waiting for one of the two quarterbacks to quit deferring to their more veteran teammates and show some willingness to push to the front of the line. That doesn’t mean they can throw interceptions and manufacture a collection of three-and-outs. That won’t get either one the job.
And it doesn’t mean the guy who yells the loudest, pumps his fist the most or runs around celebrating a good play the longest is “taking the reins.” It does mean the guy who plays the cleanest Saturday night in Levi’s Stadium, while also showing a little swagger along the way, can win the job.
There is an overriding frustration inside the Broncos complex that both Siemian and Lynch tip-toe too much. That’s not surprising because it’s difficult to face your teammates the way a starter would when you’re not the starter, especially at quarterback.
And players have no patience for false noise coming from other players they don’t believe play well enough. So it’s natural for these second- and third-year quarterbacks to tread lightly as they wrestle with learning their second offense in the past two seasons.
Even Thursday, when Lynch had one of his better practice days, both Elway and Joseph offered the same nugget.
“Like we said, he’s making progress; they’re all making progress,” Elway said. “But I think what you saw in Paxton [Thursday] is he played with a little more confidence than he has in the past. I think any time he does that, he’s a lot more successful. That comes with youth, too. You have your ups and downs as youths and the consistency is not there where you want it to be. That’s why you continue to practice, continue to work and continue to get better.”
“His best day? I’m not sure,” Joseph said after the workout. “He made three or four big-time throws [Thursday]. He looked relaxed. Hopefully that carries over to Saturday.”
Elway has said both quarterbacks have what they need to succeed “talent-wise” and Joseph has said he wants to see “separation.”
That means they shouldn’t make mistakes, but should rebound if they do and be the guy who doesn’t just have the job, but can handle the job. And if the Broncos aren’t positive about which one can handle the job, they’ll pick the guy who gets the closest.
The finalists for FIFA’s Player of the Year award obviously feature some of the sport’s most talented footballers, with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi leading the charge.
While few can argue with the inclusion of the 24 finalists, who’ll each hope to take home the prize from an October ceremony in London, a handful of other players made a convincing case for the shortlist with strong campaigns last term.
Here’s a look at the biggest snubs:
Isco – Real Madrid
The buzz around stadiums is unmistakable when the ball’s at Isco’s feet, yet the excitement he generates in the stands didn’t necessarily catch the attention of the decision-makers in Zurich, Switzerdland.
The Real Madrid midfielder, 25, is rapidly evolving into one of the game’s prominent generals in the heart of the pitch. His ability to pull the strings in the middle of the park and his otherworldly vision stand out, and should earn Isco some recognition if he’s able to produce a season similar to his 2016-17 campaign.
Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City
Few would describe Kevin De Bruyne’s season as disappointing following a campaign in which he produced a Premier League-leading 18 assists. But Manchester City’s shortcomings last season – including the club’s failure to win a single trophy – may have cost the gifted midfielder his chance to become the first Belgian to win FIFA’s Player of the Year award.
De Bruyne doesn’t necessarily need to score more goals to change his fortunes, but lifting silverware could garner some extra attention.
Edinson Cavani – PSG
Winning the top scoring honour in France apparently wasn’t enough for Edinson Cavani to be recognised as one of football’s top 24 players.
Yet, after a season in which he starred for the capital-city side with 35 goals, there’s seemingly not much more the Uruguayan can do other than lead Paris Saint-Germain to glory in the Champions League. Even then, his efforts could be overshadowed by a guy called Neymar.
Kylian Mbappe – Monaco
If the second half of last term was enough to qualify, AS Monaco wunderkind Kylian Mbappe would have had a chance to compete with the Ronaldo and Messi for the individual honour.
Instead, the coveted 18-year-old likely needs to replicate his dominant display over the course of a full season if he wants to truly elevate his status as one of the world’s best.
Whether he does it in a Monaco shirt, however, remains to be seen.
Gonzalo Higuain – Juventus
Surrounding himself with an improved cast of teammates could have cost Gonzalo Higuain a chance at some individual hardware following his debut season with Juventus.
The Argentine, who led all Serie A scorers during the 2015-16 term with Napoli, likely won’t complain after a season that saw him lift the league and domestic cup trophies, as well as appear in the Champions League final.
Despite seemingly giving up the chance to be the face of a club in order to win trophies, Higuain’s tremendous scoring rate shows no signs of slowing down after banging in 24 league goals in his first season in Turin.
Tony Dungy challenged Tampa’s professional sports teams to help pay to move a Confederate statue from in front of a local courthouse, and they have responded.
Confederate statues, and there are hundreds, are being taken down across the country in the wake of Saturday’s violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. White nationalists marched there, in part, to protest the impending removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, the key Confederate military figure in the Civil War.
Money is being raised to move the Confederate statue Memoria In Aeterna from in front of a Tampa public building. The statue, which was unveiled in 1911, portrays a Confederate soldier marching into battle during the Civil War and another returning. AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
A woman, Heather Heyer, was killed in Charlottesville when a car driven by a man from Ohio plowed into a crowd that was protesting the white nationalists.
Since then, Baltimore has removed a number of Confederate statues, and many around Tampa rallied to have the statue Memoria In Aeterna removed from in front of the Hillsborough County Courthouse. The statue was commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1910 and installed in 1911.
On Wednesday, Hillsborough County commissioners voted 4-2 to block public spending to move the monument. The county said that the $140,000 required to move the statue would have to come from private funding, and that if it didn’t in 30 days, the statue would likely stay.
Our County says private $$ must be raised to move Confederate statue. Lauren and I are in for $5K. We challenge Bucs Rays Lightning to help! pic.twitter.com/dGRd1BTFkp
— Tony Dungy (@TonyDungy) August 17, 2017
The Buccaneers, Rays and Lightning responded.
A joint statement from us, @raysbaseball, & @tbbuccaneers regarding the movement to remove the Confederate monument from downtown Tampa. pic.twitter.com/U87JQsYXO4
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) August 17, 2017
But those teams weren’t the only ones. According to the Tampa Bay Times, former Tampa Bay Storm owner Bob Gries pledged $50,000, and even Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn offered $1,000.
In about 24 hours, enough money appears to have been raised to move the statue to a small cemetery in nearby Brandon.
