Virgil van Dijk should have beaten Lionel Messi to the men's player award at the Best FIFA Football ceremony on Monday, says Celtic manager Neil Lennon.
He said: "Messi is Messi and, if you look at the numbers, we probably take it for granted what he does because he just does it so well on a regular basis.
"But I thought Virgil was the outstanding player in domestic and European football this year and he deserved to win it. I'm disappointed for him."
Asked if being a defender holds Van Dijk back when it comes to individual awards, Lennon said: "Probably.
"We're in an era of (Cristiano) Ronaldo and Messi. We're lucky to have them and we should enjoy them. Remarkable is an understatement when it comes to those two.
"But I felt that as a centre-half he's just been outstanding in every aspect of his game."
Theman21
50
If van dijk had won we would be seeing a sea of articles saying Messi was robbed[Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
big_sey
42
Can someone help me sincerely truthfully, to tell me what VVD, C,RO AND MERCY achieve last season and who achieved more individually both country and club, Modric won the same award last year because he won ucl and also performed well in his country and he couldn't even won ucl super cup. but because he plays football in Spain, now VVD have done more than what what Modric did VVD was best player epl, best player ucl. but still not enough to win Europe best player total cheat FIFA, on less there's some secret donations you should do before you can win.a big sham to you all, even your selection of FIFA best eleven speaks all
SINGAM23
10
why everyone talking crap stories NOW (the award has already reached into Barca cabinet by NOW !!)