BREAKING: Megan Rapinoe Wins FIFA Women’s Player of the Year Award

AFP/

Megan Rapinoe won The Best FIFA Women’s Player award on Monday, beating fellow World Cup winner Alex Morgan and England’s Lucy Bronze.

Rapinoe led the United States to the defence of their World Cup title in France in the summer.

The 34-year-old won the Golden Boot for being top scorer and the Golden Ball for the best player at the tournament.

Rapinoe’s USA coach Jill Ellis lifted the women’s coaching award.

Rapinoe was joint top scorer with six goals at the women’s World Cup. She became the face of the tournament for her outspoken views on US President Donald Trump and campaigning for LGBT rights.

“I’m a little bit at a loss for words, if you can believe it, it rarely happens to me,” said Rapinoe who went on to make a plea against racism and for women’s rights.

“We have such an incredible opportunity for being professional football players.

“We have incredible platforms, the unique opportunity to use this to actually change the world for the better.”

Klopp won the men’s coaching award ahead of two other Premier League coaches — Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino, who the German beat in June’s Champions League final, and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.

“It is great, nobody expected this 20, 10, five, four years ago that I would be standing here,” said the 52-year-old German who joined Liverpool in 2015.

“I have to say thank you to my outstanding club Liverpool FC. Those who don’t love it don’t have a heart.

“As a coach, you can only be as good as your team. I’m really proud of being the coach of such an incredible bunch of players.”

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