USA's Carli Lloyd among 10 finalists for FIFA women's world player of the year

Carli Lloyd will defend her FIFA women's player of the year award against a number of rivals, including three Olympic champions from Germany and five-time winner Marta.

Author:
Associated Press
Publish date:
Nov 3, 2016

ZURICH (AP) — Carli Lloyd will defend her FIFA women's player of the year award against a number of rivals, including three Olympic champions from Germany and five-time winner Marta.

Lloyd is the United States' only nominee on a 10-player list announced by FIFA on Thursday after the 2015 World Cup winners lost in the Olympic quarterfinals in Rio de Janeiro.

Germany has forward Dzsenifer Marozsan, who scored in a 2-1 win over Sweden in the gold medal match, as well as midfielders Melanie Behringer and Sara Daebritz on the list. Behringer retired after the Olympics, having played more than 100 times for her country.

Each of the trio aims to be the third different German winner in the past four years.

Carli Lloyd sacrifices plenty for her career–including a relationship with her family

Brazil great Marta, who won the award every year from 2006 through 2010, had her 11-year streak of making the final shortlist of three candidates broken last year.

European champion club Lyon provides four nominees from four different national teams.

GALLERY: 10 finalists for FIFA's men's manager of the year

10 finalists for FIFA's manager of the year

Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid

A legend as a player, Zinedine Zidane stepped in for Rafa Benitez in January and led Real Madrid to its 11th Champions League title. Real Madrid nearly made up massive ground to win La Liga, but fell a point short of Barcelona.

Fernando Santos, Portugal

Fernando Santos oversaw Portugal's stunning run to the Euro 2016 title, overcoming an injury to Cristiano Ronaldo in the final to lift the nation's first major international trophy.

Claudio Ranieri, Leicester City

Claudio Ranieri oversaw the greatest championship story in Premier League history, pulling all the right strings in leading 3,000-1 underdog Leicester City to the title. The club is also poised to get through its first Champions League group and reach the knockout stage.

Pep Guardiola, Manchester City

Before leaving for Manchester City, Pep Guardiola led Bayern Munich to a record fourth straight Bundesliga title. Bayern bowed out of the Champions League in the semifinals.

Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham

Mauricio Pochettino led Tottenham back to the Champions League and had Spurs in contention for the Premier League title, ultimately settling for a third-place finish.

Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone continues to do wonders at Atletico Madrid, leading the club to the Champions League final for a second time in third years (though suffering heartbreak on the grand stage) and also guiding Atleti to within three points of La Liga's title.

Chris Coleman, Wales

Chris Coleman spearheaded Wales's stunning charge to the Euro 2016 semifinals, which included a landmark victory over world No. 2 Belgium in the quarterfinals.

Didier Deschamps, France

Didier Deschamps had France on the cusp of winning Euro 2016 on home soil, leading Les Bleus to the final, where they ultimately fell in extra time to Portugal.

Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp took over at Liverpool last October and helped revitalize the club, bringing it to the Europa League final.

Luis Enrique, Barcelona

Luis Enrique guided Barcelona back to the top of La Liga for a second straight season, though the club's effort to repeat in the Champions League ended in the quarterfinals.

Voting is held by national team captains and coaches, selected media members and an online fan poll. Each section will count for 25 percent of the final tally.

FIFA will announce the shortlist on Dec. 2. The rebranded Best FIFA Awards ceremony will be held on Jan. 9 in Zurich.

Here are all of the candidates:

Camille Abily (France, Lyon); Melanie Behringer (Germany, Bayern Munich); Sara Daebritz (Germany, Bayern Munich); Amandine Henry (France, Portland Thorns); Saki Kumagai (Japan, Lyon); Carli Lloyd (United States, Houston Dash); Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany, Frankfurt/Lyon); Marta (Brazil, Rosengard); Lotta Schelin (Sweden, Lyon/Rosengard); Christine Sinclair (Canada, Portland Thorns).