It is the end of year awards and time to disclose my top three players of the year.

Lyon’s Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg, winner of 2018 Women’s Ballon d’Or award for best player of the year, poses with the trophy during a press conference with Lyon’s President at the Groupama training center in Lyon, central eastern France, on December 4, 2018. – Awarded the Golden Ball on December 3, Hegerberg is the first woman who won the price. (Photo by ROMAIN LAFABREGUE / AFP)

There has been a lot of controversies with recent awards and there have been many winners, some of them deserved and others a bit surprising to say the least.

Before I reveal my own top three, I will recap all the player awards that were given this year.

Let’s just say my top three is not so different from the winners of those awards. After all, those who performed well this year are quite easy to recognise.

The Vavel top 100

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – APRIL 29: Pernille Harder of Wolfsburg celebrate after her first goal during the Women’s UEFA Champions League semi final second leg match between VfL Wolfsburg and FC Chelsea at AOK Stadion on April 29, 2018 in Wolfsburg, Germany. (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Getty Images)

1. Pernille Harder

2. Amandine Henry

3. Lindsey Horan

The Guardian top 100

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 16: Pernille Harder of Wolfsburg during the Allianz Frauen Bundesliga match between VfL Wolfsburg and 1. FFC Frankfurt at AOK-Stadion on September 16, 2018 in Wolfsburg, Germany. (Photo by Joachim Sielski/Bongarts/Getty Images)

1. Pernille Harder

2. Sam Kerr

3. Ada Hegerberg

The FIFA BEST Women’s player

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 06: Marta of Brazil leads her team out during the International Friendly match between England Women and Brazil Women at Meadow Lane on October 6, 2018 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

1. Marta

2. Ada Hegerberg

3. Dzsenifer Maroszan

The UEFA Player of the Year award

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – SEPTEMBER 16: Pernille Harder of Wolfsburg before the Allianz Frauen Bundesliga match between VfL Wolfsburg and 1. FFC Frankfurt at AOK-Stadion on September 16, 2018 in Wolfsburg, Germany. (Photo by Joachim Sielski/Bongarts/Getty Images)

1. Pernille Harder

2. Ada Hegerberg

3. Amandine Henry

The Women’s Ballon d’Or

1. Ada Hegeberg

2. Pernille Harder

3. Dzsenifer Maroszan

[td_smart_list_end]

So, for my own top three, there is a certain bias towards strikers. It is unfortunate in a way because they certainly make more headlines that defensive players or goalkeepers, who deserve as much credit and recognition. But those three forwards score plenty of goals for club and country and are there as the best players around.

In third place, we have Sam Kerr, the Australian striker who has been on fire in the NWSL and also led the Australia NT to the World Cup 2019.

Kerr enjoyed an exceptional season for club and country in term of goals scored. It’s a shame her club did not perform in the NWSL play-offs or she could have ended up closer to the top.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – DECEMBER 28: Samantha Kerr of the Glory controls the ball under defduring the round nine W-League match between the Melbourne Victory and the Perth Glory at AAMI Park on December 28, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images)

In second place, we have Pernille Harder who missed out on a treble with Wolfsburg ending with a League and Cup double in Germany and a runners-up place in the Champions League.

Again, had she won the Champions League, she would have likely been my number one choice. One negative of her season was the fact that Denmark did not qualify for the World Cup 2019, despite being one of favorites to win the group. They did qualify for the play-offs but lost in the first round to the Netherlands.

WOLFSBURG, GERMANY – JULY 26: Pernille Harder of VfL Wolfsburg poses during the Allianz Frauen Bundesliga Club Tour at AOK Stadion on July 26, 2018 in Wolfsburg, Germany. (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Getty Images)

In first place, there is no surprise I have selected the Women’s Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg who had another excellent season scoring goals with Olympique Lyonnais.

She beat the Champions League record over one season with 15 goals and scored 31 in the D1 Feminine. Norway qualified for the World Cup but she was not involved as she has retired from selection following disagreements with the NFF.

Olympique Lyonnais’ Norwegian forward Ada Hegerberg gestures after receiving the 2018 FIFA Women’s Ballon d’Or award for best player of the year during the 2018 FIFA Ballon d’Or award ceremony at the Grand Palais in Paris on December 3, 2018. – (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP)

So, no controversy on my side for the top three players. They are all worthy of first place and the competition was extremely close.

As we saw, Harder won three of the main five awards, but she did not win a BIG tournament, hence she is only second for me.

Top 3 Women players 2018

It is the end of year awards and time to disclose my top three players of the year.

The Vavel top 100

The Guardian top 100

The FIFA BEST Women’s player

The UEFA Player of the Year award

The Women’s Ballon d’Or