Messi and Ronaldo all set to vie for Globe Soccer Award in Dubai
dubai — Barcelona were the biggest winners in the 2015 Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai. Can they repeat it?
Well, we will have to wait and watch as Dubai is all set to host the latest edition of the prestigious awards ceremony on December 27 and 28. Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Gareth Bale, Jamie Vardy, Antoine Griezmann and Gonzalo Higuain will vie for the best player award while Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane will fight for the best coach award with Fernando Santos, Claudio Ranieri, Massimiliano Allegri and Unai Emery, a Press release said.
During the last edition, Barcelona dominated the Globe Soccer Awards, winning the best club of the year award. Their president Josep Maria Bartomeu was named the best chairman and Messi won the best player and best media attraction awards.
Other important awards included career awards won by Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard, the award for best referee of the year went to Ravshan Irmatov, the award for best coach of the year went to Marc Wilmots, and Jorge Mendes was named the best agent. Alongside these awards, there was also the award presented to Yasser Al Shahrani for GCC best player of the year.
Also the next edition of the event will be full of surprises — including the award for the best player in the Chinese Super League.
Ronaldo, of course, could be the favourite for the best player award this year. The Real Madrid superstar won the two biggest titles in Europe last season — the Champions League with Real Madrid and the Euro title with Portugal. Ronaldo scored 16 goals in 12 appearances in the Champions League and also found the net three times and made three assists for Portugal at the Euro 2016 in France.
The second candidate is, of course, Messi. During last season, Messi managed to win three domestic titles with Barcelona – the Spanish Championship, the Spanish Cup, and the Spanish Super Cup. In one of these competitions — the Spanish Cup 2015/2016 — he was top scorer with five goals. With Argentina, Messi reached the final at the 2016 Copa America in the US. The third candidate is English striker Jamie Vardy who scored 24 goals in the Premier League to help Leicester City stun the world win a historic league title. The team finished above top guns like Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea
The fourth candidate is Gonzalo Higuain, the Argentine player who currently plays for Juventus. Last season, he led Naples to second place in the Serie A, scoring a record number of goals (36) in the Italian championship and thus surpassing the holder of the previous record (35 goals in Serie A), Gunnar Nordahl.
The fifth candidate is Gareth Bale, the Real Madrid star who won the Uefa Champions League and also helped minnows Wales reach the Euro semifinals. In the Spanish League, he scored 19 times and also provided 10 assists in just 23 appearances.
The sixth candidate is Antoine Griezmann, the French striker who helped Atletico Madrid reach the Champions League final. Griezmann was also the top scorer at the Euro 2016 with five goals as he helped France reach the final.