The Best Awards: Algeria coach Belmadi got just 10 African votes

Algeria’s Djamel Belmadi got 10 votes from African national team captains, in his bid to win the 2019 FIFA Best Men’s Coach Award.

The awards are based on performances from July 16, 2018, to July 19, 2019, and were voted for by fans, national coaches of FIFA Member Associations, their team captains as well as a select group of football journalists from those countries.

FIFA released voting the breakdown shortly after the ceremony in Milan on Monday night with only 10 of over 30 captains picking Belmadi to win the award.

Read also: Messi wins best FIFA player of the year for record sixth time

Belmadi was the only African on the shortlist after guiding Algeria to win the Africa Cup of Nations title for the first time in 29 years in Egypt.

The 43-year-old earned votes from his countryman Riyad Mahrez, Ghana captain Andre Ayew, Nigeria captain Ahmed Musa, Uganda captain Denis Onyango, Costa Mateus of Angola, Chad’s Casimir Ninga, Mohamed Youssouf of Djibouti, Niger’s Sakou Dela, Togo skipper Djene Dakonam and Bangura Umaru of Sierra Leone.

Belmadi did not get votes from captains of top football countries on the continent such as Senegal, Tunisia, South Africa, Zambia and DR Congo.



Morocco, Egypt and Ivory Coast did not vote.

He, however, got eight votes from captain’s outside Africa. Notable among them are Portugal skipper Cristiano Ronaldo and France captain Hugo Lloris.

For the African national team coaches, Belmadi was voted for by Senegal coach Aliou Cisse, whom he beat in the Afcon final, Ghana’s Kwesi Appiah, Nigeria’s Gernot Rohr as well as coaches of Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Central African Republic, Congo, Djibouti, Gambia, Mauritania, Niger, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Togo.

Outside Africa, Portugal coach Fernando Santos, just like his captain Ronaldo, voted for Belmadi. National team coaches of Barbados, Guyana, Haiti Laos, Montenegro, Oman and Philippines also picked Belmadi for the award.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was named Coach of the Year following his team’s success in the UEFA Champions League and finishing second in the Premier League with 97 points – the third-highest tally recorded in the competition.

Source:Myjoyonline