Mane, Salah, Lewandoski make FIFA best player award list

• Zidane, Klopp for coach of the year

Two African players in Liverpool Club, Senegal’s Sadio Mane, Egyptian Mohamed Salah on the shortlist of 11 players for the best FIFA men’s player award unveiled Wednesday.

European player of the year Robert Lewandowski is one of players along with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.

Besides Polish striker Lewandowski, one other winner of the Champions League with Bayern Munich made the list, Spanish midfielder Thiago Alcantara, who joined Liverpool in September.

Apart from Sallah and Mane, one other member of Liverpool and English champions, Dutchman Virgil van Dijk, is on the shortlist

Paris Saint-Germain stars, Mbappe and Neymar also make the list.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos complete the list.

Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, Sevilla’s Julen Lopetegui headline a list for the men’s coach award, which also feature Bayern’s Hans-Dieter Flick and Argentinian coach Marcelo Bielsa, who led Leeds into the English Premier League.

Three finalists from categories also including men and women’s goalkeepers, and women’s players and coaches will be announced on December 11, with the award handed out on December 17.

Shortlists for Best FIFA awards

Men: Thiago Alcantara (ESP/Bayern Munchen/Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (POR/Juventus), Kevin De Bruyne (BEL/Manchester City), Robert Lewandowski (POL/Bayern Munich), Sadio Mane (SEN/Liverpool), Kylian Mbappe (FRA/Paris Saint-Germain), Lionel Messi (ARG/Barcelona), Neymar (BRA/Paris Saint-Germain), Sergio Ramos (ESP/Real Madrid), Mohamed Salah (EGY/Liverpool) and Virgil van Dijk (NED/Liverpool)

Women: Lucy Bronze (ENG/Lyon/Manchester City), Delphine Cascarino (FRA/Lyon), Caroline Graham Hansen (NOR/Barcelona), Pernille Harder (DEN/Wolfsburg/Chelsea), Jennifer Hermoso (ESP/Barcelona), Ji So-yun (KOR/Chelsea), Sam Kerr (AUS/Chelsea), Saki Kumagai (JPN/Lyon), Dzsenifer Marozsan (GER/Lyon), Vivianne Miedema (NED/Arsenal), Wendie Renard (FRA/Lyon)