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Football London
Football London
Sport
Louie Chandler

Eden Hazard and Thiago Silva agree on where Chelsea's Jorginho ranks among world's best

Robert Lewandowski was the big winner in FIFA's 2021 Best awards on Monday night as he beat Chelsea's N'Golo Kante and Jorginho to the top prize.

The duo missed out on the top five entirely, with Lionel Messi, Mohamed Salah, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo making up the remaining places.

Many felt Jorginho in particular was deserving of either the Ballon d'Or or this prize having been a crucial part of both Chelsea's Champions League success and Italy's Euro 2020 triumph.

But he missed out on the big prize to Lionel Messi back in November and had to settle for a similar fate here.

The regista still impressed plenty of voters, however, and made the top three of many more - as did Kante.

The award is voted for by managers and captains of international sides, with England boss Gareth Southgate and Lewandowski himself among those to name Jorginho as their player of the year.

However, there was no room for club loyalty for Brazil captain and Chelsea fan-favourite Thiago Silva, who only placed his clubmate third in his own vote.

It is not unusual to see those voting, side with teammates - either on a domestic or international stage - and it was Brazil teammate Neymar who benefitted this time, topping Silva's list. Lewandowski came second in his list.

While plenty of Blues fans may disagree with the 37-year-old's decision, another former favourite at Stamford Bridge was in agreement with him.

As captain of Belgium, Eden Hazard was given a vote and plumped for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema as his player of the year with fellow Red Devil Kevin De Bruyne taking his second spot, leaving Jorginho in third.

However, his national team captain Giorgio Chiellini backed the midfielder, as did his manager Robert Mancini.

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