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Fans Can't Believe Who Gareth Southgate Left Out Of His Best Awards Votes

Fans Can't Believe Who Gareth Southgate Left Out Of His Best Awards Votes

Cristiano Ronaldo beat Lionel Messi and Neymar to the title of the world's best player but not everyone was in agreement.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

When it comes to voting for the best player in the world the public do have a say in FIFA's Best awards as do some press and the captains and managers of football's national teams. Which is why plenty of people are talking about Gareth Southgate this morning.

It came as a surprise to literally no one last night that Cristiano Ronaldo was named as the best player on the earth for the previous 12 months as his goals helped Real Madrid become La Liga champions and retain the Champions League.

With Lionel Messi and Neymar already named as the other members of the top three from the previous long list it was also no surprise that the Argentine finished above his former Barcelona teammate.

The three men about to receive their awards on Monday night. Image: FIFA Best awards.

The great thing about the FIFA awards is that they reveal who voted for whom, so they are actually transparent about something. That means, just like with your mates constantly posting on Facebook when it comes to the general election, we know who votes for someone daft.

And FIFA's list of voters shows that controversially Gareth Southgate missed Messi off his voting form. The former centre back picked Cristiano Ronaldo as his first choice with Real teammates Luka Modric and Toni Kroos taking the other spots.

The two Real midfielders have enjoyed a very good year. Image: PA

There's no doubt the midfield duo have become two of the best midfielders in world football but the lack of Messi, who scored 54 goals in 52 games, has baffled many.

Perhaps the reason that Southgate picked the pair of midfielders is due to his own slim pickings in that position. After all he has his own world class goal scorer in Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford could vaguely be his Neymar but he's got no one on Modric and Kroos' level in the centre of the park.

The England boss is also not the only one with a notable choice. Both Costa Rica's manager and captain picked Keylor Navas as the world's best player, which is clearly nepotism at its worst.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Eden Hazard, Robert Lewandowski and N'Golo Kante were also amongst some of the odder choices.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: FIFA, Barcelona, Neymar, Lionel Messi, England, Toni Kroos, Gareth Southgate, The Best, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Luka Modric