ISTANBUL
Virgil van Dijk, a Dutch defender of English club Liverpool, was named the UEFA Men's Player of the Year on Thursday.
Van Dijk, 28, beat European superstars Barcelona forward Lionel Messi and Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo to became the number one footballer of the season.
The winner of the award was announced during this season's Champions League group stage draw in Monaco.
Argentinian football star Messi won the award in 2011 and 2015. Meanwhile, Ronaldo became the winner in 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric was named as the UEFA Men's Player of the Year in 2018.
Dutch international Van Dijk has been regarded as an integral part of Liverpool, helping the Reds win the UEFA Champions League and Super Cup trophies in 2019.
Last season, he had 50 appearances for Liverpool, scoring six goals and producing four assists.
Van Dijk played 12 Champions League matches for Liverpool last season and stayed for 90 minutes on the pitch in all these matches. He only missed one match due to a yellow card suspension.
In addition, Van Dijk became the English Premier League Player of the 2018-2019 season even though Manchester City were Premier League champions in 2019.
In Thursday's ceremony, Alisson Becker was awarded with the UEFA Champions League 2018/2019 Goalkeeper of the Season.
Virgil van Dijk bagged the UEFA Champions League 2018/2019 Defender of the Season.
Frenkie de Jong was awarded with the UEFA Champions League 2018/2019 Midfielder of the Season.
Messi was awarded with the UEFA Champions League 2018/2019 Forward of the Season.
UEFA honored former Manchester United player Eric Cantona with the 2019 UEFA President's Award.
