FIFA will present the award for Best Male Goalkeeper at the event on January 17, but Thibaut Courtois is not even in the running for the award.
The governing body has selected Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer, Gianluigi Donnarumma of Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy for the final and Courtois is determined to prove them wrong in their performance against Valencia.
Courtois also played a key role in Real Madrid’s efforts to secure another win, having produced a number of major saves to prevent Valencia from returning to action.
By scoring 3-0, the Belgian midfielder did a good job denying Daniel Wass and saved a concert by Goncalo Guedes despite the Portuguese driving home after a rebound.
In fact, Courtois has saved the last 20 shots of Real Madrid in Real Madrid 23 straight. In the last 18 shots on the visitors’ goal at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, the Belgian goalkeeper opened just one.
“I will not comment on why I was not nominated for The Best,” Courtois said in November.
“I think it’s something I talked about last month, but that’s it. Individual prizes are not the most important thing.”
