UEFA snubs Africans in Team of the Year

Toure

UEFA has announced the nominees for its Team of the Year, with no African footballer included.

Despite the performances of the likes of Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund) and Yacine Brahimi (FC Porto) among others, the European body still shunned the continent’s best.

The list is however dominated by Europeans and South Americans with Champions League holders, Barcelona, having the lion share with eight representatives.

Barca boast inclusions for Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Dani Alves, Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic, while Joe Hart is the only nominated Englishman.

Goalkeepers

Denys Boyko (Dnipro), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Joe Hart (Man City) and Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich)

Defenders

David Alaba (Bayern Munich), Dani Alves (Barcelona), Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), David Luiz (PSG), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg) and Thiago Silva (PSG)

Midfielders

Hakan Calhanoglu (Bayer Leverkusen), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), James Rodriguez (Real Madrid), Yevhen Konoplyanka (Sevilla), Grzegorz Krychowiak (Sevilla), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Ivan Rakitic (Barcelona), Marco Verratti (PSG) and Arturo Vidal (Bayern Munich)

Forwards

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City), Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Alvaro Morata (Juventus), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Neymar (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) and Luis Suarez (FC Barcelona)