Sam Kerr nominated for Best FIFA’s Women’s Player as Ronaldo is snubbed

Australian rules football ace Sam Kerr has once again been recognized for his continued excellence, shortlisted as the Best FIFA Women’s Player of the year.

The Chelsea and Matildas striker tops a list of 14 star names with the sport’s governing body also revealing the FIFA Best Male Player Thursday’s list that has Lionel Messi as a big favorite and Cristiano Ronaldo not included for the first time.

Kerr signs autographs for fans after the women’s international football match between Australia and Thailand at the Central Coast Stadium in Gosford

Kerr has been recognized after another stellar season for club and country, winning the FA Cup and Women’s Super League double with Chelsea, while also taking the Golden Boot as top scorer in England for the second successive season.

The 2022 Women’s Player of the Year was also Australia’s top scorer at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, but she has formidable opposition in the hunt for the grand prize after finishing second at the same awards last year behind Alexia Putellas. .

Kerr also finished third in the voting behind the winner Putellas for the other major world award, the Ballon d’Or Feminin, in the past two years.

Barcelona star Putellas is back on the list despite missing much of last year with injury.

She is alongside three of the England team that triumphed at the Women’s Euro: top scorer Beth Mead, captain Leah Williamson and midfielder Keira Walsh, and Kerr’s Canadian Chelsea teammate Jessie Fleming.

Messi also tops a list of 14, with 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, two-time winner Robert Lewandowski, Paris St Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe and Manchester City goalscoring sensation Erling Haaland.

Sam Kerr vies for the ball for Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League match against Paris St Germain at Stamford Bridge, London.

Ronaldo had a bitter end to his playing career with both Manchester United and Portugal and is now unable to be nominated as FIFA’s best player for the first time.

But it seemed that an era had ended as Ronaldo’s name was conspicuous by its absence.

The Portuguese, released by Manchester United and benched by Portugal during the World Cup, won the FIFA award the first two years in 2016 and 2017 and was on the podium the next three years.

This time, however, while Messi seemed certain to be rewarded for orchestrating Argentina’s World Cup triumph, Ronaldo was not even selected as a candidate by a FIFA-appointed panel.

The other Australian nominated on the ‘FIFA Best’ lists is Alou Kuol, older brother of Newcastle wunderkind Garang, who is in line for the ‘Puskas Award’ for best goal of the calendar year.

The 21-year-old scored an impressive ‘scorpion kick’ effort for Australia’s Under 23 team against Iran’s Under 23s and his effort will be judged against 10 other belts, including Mbappe’s dazzling second-place finish in the World Cup final. World Cup.

Award nominees:

Men: Julian Alvarez, Jude Bellingham, Karim Benzema, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Achraf Hakimi, Robert Lewandowski, Sadio Mane, Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi, Luka Modric, Neymar, Mohamed Salah, Vinicius Junior

Women: Aitana Bonmati, Debinha, Jessie Fleming, Ada Hegerberg, Sam Kerr, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Alex Morgan, Lena Oberdorf, Alexandra Popp, Alexia Putellas, Wendie Renard, Keira Walsh, Leah Williamson.