Manchester City Represented in FIFA FIFPro World XI

The world’s best XI players for 2021 has been released and Manchester City players are represented.

The men's team of the best XI players for the year is voted by members of the international players’ union Fifpro but awarded by FIFA as their official world’s best XI.

The World XI consists of a goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and four attackers.

✨ The 2021 Men’s FIFA FIFPRO #World11 lineup:

@gigiodonna1

@David_Alaba

@bonucci_leo19

@rubendias

@DeBruyneKev

Jorginho

@nglkante

@lewy_official

Lionel Messi

@Cristiano

@ErlingHaaland

By the players, for the players. @FIFAWorldCup

Ruben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne have both reacted to the award. Dias stated that reaching the Champions League final is one of the biggest highlights of last year for him, despite City's 0-1 loss to Chelsea in Porto.

The City defender revealed the secret of his success since joining City. He said: “I would combine two things: consistency and forgetting.

“Consistency, first of all, because that’s just the way I see a top player keeping their performances going. You need to keep grinding and doing it every day non-stop.

“Many times, it’s not about doing too much or too little, it’s just about never stopping.

“And secondly, it’s important that you do, that you forget and that you want more. To play at this level every three days you just need to do, forget, again, do, forget, again. It’s about thinking about the next one and the next one.”

The Portugal international also gave his take on De Bruyne’s quality and impact, saying: “I think I have the same opinion as everyone else!

“Kevin is a player that can surprise you every second of the game. He sees things not many of us see and obviously he’s a very powerful player.

“He’s got amazing skills, whether it’s shooting, passing, dribbling. Essentially his vision and understanding of the game.

“He’s a player that knows what the game needs and because of that I just think he deserves to be there.”

For De Bruyne, Manchester City players deserve recognition by the world football governing body given the team’s performance last season. He also expressed his view about his exceptional qualities and inclusion in the team.

“I just try to be myself,” he said.

“What works for me doesn’t work for someone else maybe. I’m a creative football player who tries to create scoring chances, openings to get my team opportunities to score so that’s what I’m best at in football. That’s my strong point.”

And on Dias, he said: “He’s been great. He came in last year and to be a new player and perform the way he did …. Also, being available all the time was massive for us. He picked up the team from the back and he deserves it.”

After reaching the Champions League for the first time last season, the Blues are hopeful of going one better this term.

De Bruyne had a slow start to the season, but the Belgian is getting back to his best form.

His venomous strike against Chelsea had retaliation written all over it after the disappointment of coming second best to Thomas Tuchel’s side last term. More importantly, the team is performing excellently as a unit and can look forward to more accolades this year.