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The Best FIFA Goalkeeper panel: You’ll NEVER guess Schmeichel, Lloris and Courtois judges
THE FIFA Best Awards get underway this evening, with some surprise judges on the goalkeeping panel.
Three Premier League goalkeepers have been nominated for the shot-stopper of the year award in London tonight.
Leicester’s Kasper Schmeichel, Hugo Lloris of Tottenham and Thibaut Courtois - who left Chelsea for Real Madrid in the summer - are up for the award.
The trio are all worthy nominees having enjoyed stellar seasons with their clubs last term.
But the names of the judges for the Goalkeeper award may surprise many.
The Best FIFA Goalkeeper - panel
There are 10 judges overseeing the The Best FIFA Goalkeeper award tonight.
Some of the names UK football fans will be familiar with, with England icon Gordon Banks, Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel and former Middlesbrough No 1 Mark Schwarzer on the panel.
The iconic Colombian Rene Higuita, ex-Soviet Union shot-stopper Rinat Dasaev and former Portuguese goalkeeper Vítor Baía are also on the panel.
But there are also three former strikers judging the Best FIFA Goalkeeper award, supposedly to add balance as goalscorers know what to look for in a good keeper.
And the two names who stick out for Premier League football fans are certainly Diego Forlan and Frederic Kanoute.
Diego Forlan
Forlan endured a miserable spell at Manchester United in the mid-2000s and was sold by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2004 to Villarreal.
He went on to have a successful career in Europe and represented Uruguay 112 times.
But he will be remembered by Manchester United fans as a class below the required standard - even if Red Devils supports look back at Forlan’s stint with ironic pleasure.
Frederic Kanoute
As for Kanoute, he proved a reasonable hit while at West Ham before being sold to Tottenham in 2003.
However, Kanoute’s languid approach failed to capture the hearts of Spurs fans, with Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe the eventual preferred striking partnership at White Hart Lane.
The ex-Mali international’s two-year stint at White Hart Lane was full of frustrations and after just 14 league goals he was shipped out to Sevilla.
The Best FIFA Goalkeeper - full panel
Alessandro Altobelli
Vítor Baía
Gordon Banks
Jorge Campos
Rinat Dasaev
Diego Forlán
René Higuita
Frédéric Kanouté
Peter Schmeichel
Mark Schwarzer