Skip to main content

Virgil van Dijk named UEFA Player of the Year

On Thursday, the Dutch international received the trophy at the end of the 2019-2020 UEFA Champions League group stage draw held at Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, reports Efe news.

The 28-year-old center-back was a key player in Liverpool's 2018-2019 campaign, which saw the English club win its sixth Champions League and finish second in the Premier League with a club record 97 points.

Van Dijk, the first backliner to be proclaimed Player of the Year since the award was created in 2011, also picked up the 2019 UEFA Defender of the Season prize.

Ronaldo has won Player of the Year three times - 2014, 2016 and 2017 - and Messi hoisted the trophy in 2011 and 2015.

Messi didn't leave the Grimaldi Forum empty-handed, receiving the Forward of the Season award for the second time in a decade. The Argentine star was the top goal scorer in the 2018-2019 Champions League.

Another Liverpool man, Alisson Becker, was chosen UEFA Goalkeeper of the Season, while Frenkie de Jong, who left Ajax for Barcelona over the summer, lifted the trophy for Midfielder of the Season.

Olympique Lyonnais right-back Lucy Bronze was named the UEFA Women's Player of the Year.

The 27-year-old helped Olympique grab the treble and contributed to England's fourth-place finish at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The ceremony concluded with the presentation of the 2019 UEFA President's Award to Manchester United legend Eric Cantona.

In his five seasons with the Red Devils, Cantona scored 64 goals in 143 appearances and won the Premier League four times.

He has the distinction of having won a first-division title in three successive seasons with three different clubs: Marseille, Leeds United and Man United.

Cantona, now 53, also scored 20 goals for France in 45 international matches.



via Sify.com https://ift.tt/2Hz2vpE
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Manchester United to do everything to get Rashford ready for Liverpool clash

Leeds [UK], Jan 16 (ANI): Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said they will do 'everything' they can to get Marcus Rashford in shape for the Liverpool clash. Rashford sustained a back injury on Thursday during the FA Cup clash against Wolves on Thursday and left the field. "He's a quick healer and he'll play through some pain, definitely, if he's capable, if it's not a bad, bad injury. But we've seen that he's struggled lately - but more when he's been tired," Goal.com quoted Solskjaer as saying. "He wasn't on long enough to be tired so I think it might have been something that just happened there and then. He's been absolutely top this season so we'll do everything we can to get him fit for Sunday. If he's not then we'll play without him," he added. Manchester United secured a 1-0 win against Wolves with the help of Juan Mata's strike. Manchester United will take on Liverpool in Premier L...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pogba is one of best players when in form: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Leeds [UK], Dec 7 (ANI): Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has praised midfielder Paul Pogba, saying that he is one of the best players in the world when he is in good touch. "Paul is going to play when he gets his fitness. He is one of the best players in the world when he's in form and we just need to give him time to be 100 per cent fit," Goal.com quoted Solskjaer as saying. Pogba has endured a frustrating 2019-20 campaign to date, having only managed five Premier League appearances in total due to a string of fitness issues. He is currently recovering from an ankle injury and last played for the club on September 30 against Arsenal. Solskjaer had said that the France international will be out of action till December. "It might be 45 minutes in the first game, it might be half an hour, it might be 90. It depends on what game he comes back in and I'm looking back to get Paul back to where I had him about a year ago," Solskjaer said. ...
Post a Comment
Read more