By Josh Barker
The Best Men’s Coach
The Best FIFA awards took place on Thursday evening.
Due to Covid-19, there was no in-person attendance for this year’s ceremony.
But with the Ballon d’Or not set to take place this year, The Best awards nevertheless marked the most high-profile football ceremony of 2020.
There were, of course, a number of awards up for grabs in Zurich on Thursday.
One such prize was The Best FIFA Men’s coach.
The award was first won in 2016 by Claudio Ranieri, for his efforts in guiding Leicester City to a shock Premier League title.
Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps and Jurgen Klopp secured the accolade in the years that followed.
Klopp, meanwhile, was once again in the running for this year’s award, after guiding Liverpool to their first-ever Premier League title.
The German was joined on the shortlist by fellow countryman Hansi Flick, who won the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, German Cup, German Super Cup and UEFA Super Cup with Bayern Munich in 2020.
The final nominee, somewhat surprisingly, was Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa, who helped the Whites to promotion back to the top-flight of English football earlier this year.
In the end, though, it was Klopp who emerged victorious, securing the honour for the 2nd time.
🏆🏆 It’s back-to-back crowns for Jurgen Klopp! Congratulations to the @LFC boss on becoming the first to win #TheBest FIFA Men’s Coach twice 🔴#FIFAFootballAwards pic.twitter.com/VfsfVdwDqf
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) December 17, 2020
The Best Goalkeeper & Puskas award
Elsewhere, another Liverpool man was not so lucky in his hopes of clinching one of The Best awards, as Manuel Neuer was named The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper ahead of Alisson:
🏆 @Manuel_Neuer is #TheBest FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper 2020. Another trophy for ‘The Wall’! 🧱
🔴 @FCBayern | @DFB_Team 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/zMxnikK3Bh
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) December 17, 2020
The only male Premier League player to bag a prize on Thursday was Tottenham’s Heung-min Son.
The South Korean picked up the Puskas award for his excellent solo effort vs Burnley:
💨 Get in there, Sonny! Son Heungmin’s breathtaking goal against Burnley wins him the FIFA #Puskas Award 🥇
⚪️ @SpursOfficial | @theKFA 🇰🇷
🏆 #TheBest #FIFAFootballAwards pic.twitter.com/kLXsAh8Twr— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) December 17, 2020
Liverpool boss Klopp named The Best FIFA Men’s Coach/ Tottenham’s Heung-min Son 2020 Puskas winner
