Egyptian sensation Mohamed Salah has been shortlisted to compete for the prestigious “UEFA Men’s Player of the Year”, making it to the final three contenders alongside UEFA Champions League winners Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modrić.
The UEFA’s official Twitter account announced the three finalists on Twitter, explaining the shortlisting process in a second tweet:
“The shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising the 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48), along with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA’s member associations.”
The coaches gave five points to their first option, three to their second and one point their third. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
How were the #UEFAawards nominees shortlisted?
Who were the rest of the top ten?🔻 UEFA Men's Player of the Year: the lowdown 🔻
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 20, 2018
The three were selected out of a pool of ten elite players who made the first shortlist for the award, including Antoine Griezmann, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Kevin De Bruyne, Raphaël Varane, Eden Hazard and Sergio Ramos.
To many, Salah’s nomination comes as no surprise. The Liverpool forward lead a sensational season, sweeping almost every major award from the prestigious Golden Boot, to PFA Player of the Year, to BBC’s African Player of the Year (2017). Salah helped lead Liverpool to the Champions League final. He was also shortlisted for “Best Champions League Forward” along with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Salah has seen major support from Egyptians in his nomination for the award. In July, a hashtag, #ادعم_محمد_صلاح (Support_Mohamed_Salah), calling for Salah to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player 2018 award, went viral.
Salah led Egypt to its first World Cup since 1990, scoring the winning goal against Congo. In the World Cup, he also displayed a stellar performance, scoring the only two Egyptian goals in the tournament.
The winner of the award will be revealed at the Best FIFA Football Awards show in London, on 24 September.
