Sam Kerr again in running for Fifa’s Best Women’s Player award
Sam Kerr’s star is showing no signs of fading after being named on the shortlist for Fifa’s Best Women’s Player award, off the back of a hat-trick for her club side Chelsea and ahead of Australia’s clash with the US this weekend.
It is the fifth straight year the Matildas captain has been nominated for the prestigious award. Although she is yet to win it, Kerr is in the running again after a stunning period in which she claimed her first Women’s Super League golden boot with 21 goals.
Kerr and Chelsea also claimed WSL title, the League Cup and the Community Shield, along with reaching the Women’s Champions League final for the first time. The 28-year-old was also a standout at international level, scoring six goals at the Tokyo Olympics as captain of the – who finished fourth for their best result at the Games – to become Australia’s all-time leading women’s goal scorer.
Kerr will lead the line for Australia on Saturday afternoon when the Matildas take on world No 1 side the US in the first of two friendlies inside four days.
Three of Kerr’s Chelsea teammates in skipper Magdalena Eriksson (Sweden), fellow forward Pernille Harder (Denmark) and playmaker Jo So-Yun (South Korea) are also on the player of the year shortlist. Barcelona stars Alexia Putellas (Spain), Caroline Graham Hanson (Norway), Jenni Hermoso (Spain) and Aitana Bonmati have been recognised after their side won the treble.
Arsenal striker Vivianne Miedema, Manchester City’s Lucy Bronze, who won the award last year, and Ellen White (England), Portland and Canada captain Christine Sinclair and Sweden and BK Hachen star Stina Blackstenius round out the nominees.
A public vote is now open on Fifa’s website and will remain so until 10 December, with three finalists announced in January. The winner will be revealed on 17 January.
Meanwhile, the shortlist for the men’s award is headed by perennial finalists Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi and Chelsea duo N’Golo Kante and Jorginho. The others in the running are Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, Bayern Munich hot-shot Robert Lewandowski, Paris Saint-Germain’s , Kylian Mbappe and Neymar, Borussia Dortmund’s rising star Erling Haaland and Liverpool’s Egypt international Mohamed Salah.