On Monday night, FIFA hosted its annual football awards in Milan. The show highlighted the successes of players across both the Men's and Women's games in the 2018-19 season, including those who participated in this summer's Women's World Cup.
FIFPro World 11
There were a number of shocks on the night, such as impressive Dutch striker Vivianne Miedema being ranked the ninth-best forward in FIFPRO's World XI, despite scoring more goals than games she played in the FAWSL last season and being one of the best players at the World Cup.
The side was obviously dominated by American players as it often is, with Brazillian forward Marta in the squad, Sari van Veenendaal in goal representing the Netherlands, and Lucy Bronze the only Lionesses' player. There were also two French players in Wendie Renard and Amandine Henry included in the side which was voted for by fellow Professionals.
The Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper
Sari van Veenendaal - Netherlands
The Goalkeeper who represented the Netherlands and Arsenal throughout the 2018/19 season was voted as the best in the world by fellow players. She had already won the Golden Glove during the summer in the Women's World Cup, and was instrumental in helping the Netherlands to get into the final of the tournament. At Arsenal, she won the FAWSL, although at the end of her contract she chose to move to Atletico Madrid.
She finished in front of the other two nominees - Christiane Endler and Hedvig Lindahl. Endler was in nets for a Paris Saint Germain side which finished second in the Division 1 Feminine, as well as putting in outstanding performances for her native Chile in the World Cup.
The 36-year-old Hedvig Lindahl was another good contender for the award, being the shotstopper for Chelsea in a good Champions League run whist guiding Sweden to a third place finish in the World Cup, falling to the Netherlands in the semi-finals.
The Best FIFA Women's Coach
Jill Ellis - USA
She may be bringing down the curtain on her career as manager of the USWNT in October, but Jill Ellis was crowned the best Women's Coach on Monday night. Following on from guiding her side to a World Cup win in 2015, she won a second consecutive tournament over the summer of 2019, defeating all sides on the way.
In winning the award, she ousted Phil Neville and Sarina Weigman. Many were perplexed as to how Neville managed to find his way into the final, with his Lionesses finishing fourth in the World Cup and tactically not impressing anywhere near as much as other sides in some people's opinion.
Weigman finished second in the voting, after she led her native Netherlands to the final of the World Cup, a team that she also won the 2017 European Championships with. Two goals in quick succession from the USA bettered them in the final of the tournament, however the entire tournament was a valiant effort from the Dutch side with a number of talented young players.
The Best FIFA Women's Player
Megan Rapinoe - USA
The pink-haired forward made headlines throughout the summer with her performances both on and off the pitch in the World Cup. She has only featured in three matches in 2019 for her NWSL side Reign FC due to injury but won the golden ball at this summer's tournament in France with the USA - scoring five and assisting two in only five games.
She has used her position to be vocal on many public issues over her career, and is currently in a disagreement with United States Soccer Federation about equal pay for the men's and women's teams. At Monday night's event, she used her acceptance speech to highlight what many of what she thinks are big issues in the current world of football the public stage:
“Some of the stories that have inspired me the most this year,” Rapinoe said, “[are] Raheem Sterling and [Kalidou] Koulibaly, their incredible performances on the field but the way they have taken on the disgusting racism that they have to face this year but probably for their whole lives.
“The young Iranian woman who eventually set herself on fire because she wasn't able to go to the game," she continued. "The one out MLS player [Collin] Martin and the countless other female out LGBTQ players who fight so hard every day to a) just play the sport they love but b) to fight the rampant homophobia that we have.
“Those are all the stories that inspire me so much, but they also admittedly make me a little bit sad and a little bit disappointed. I feel like if we really want to have meaningful change, what I think is most inspiring would be if everybody other than Raheem Sterling and Koulibaly, if they were as outraged about racism as they were … If everybody was as outraged about homophobia as the LGBTQ players … if everybody was as outraged about equal pay or the lack thereof of the lack of investment in the women’s game other than just women, that would be the most inspiring thing to me.”