Cristiano Ronaldo Heads 3-Man Shortlist Nominated for Globe Soccer Awards
November 26, 2018
Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann are the three nominees for Best Player of the Year at the 2019 Globe Soccer Awards.
The nominees were announced on Monday, ahead of the awards' 10th edition on January 3:
Per Globe Soccer, Jurgen Klopp features on the five-man shortlist for Best Coach of the Year alongside Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Massimiliano Allegri and Diego Simeone.
In the Best Agent category, Ronaldo's representative Jorge Mendes is included. So too is Jonathan Barnett, Gareth Bale's agent, and Stefano Castagna, who represents Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
The Reds are also nominated for Best Club of the Year:
Ronaldo is bidding to win the Best Player award for the third year running and the fifth time overall.
He scored 28 goals for Real Madrid in 2018 to help them win the UEFA Champions League before making the switch to Juventus in the summer.
The 33-year-old netted his 10th goal for the Bianconeri in a 2-0 win over SPAL on Saturday:
The goal was a record-breaking strike:
On top of that, he has also scored six times for Portugal including four at the FIFA World Cup in Russia, taking his total to 44 goals for club and country this year.
Griezmann and Mbappe also scored four times apiece at the World Cup as they helped France lift the trophy, and they've bagged 35 and 31 goals overall in 2018, respectively.
The former's efforts helped Atletico Madrid win the UEFA Europa League, while the latter won the domestic treble with Paris Saint-Germain.
Ronaldo is a perennial contender for such awards, and in terms of numbers he has a comfortable lead over his rivals with a month remaining in the year.
Mbappe and Griezmann played a key role in France winning football's biggest prize, though, with the former in particular lighting up the tournament, so Ronaldo will face some stiff competition.