Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been named the Best FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year at an awards ceremony in Milan.
The German saw off competition from Premier League rivals Pep Guardiola, of Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur’s Mauricio Pochettino to win the award.
The Reds manager guided the club to the Champions League trophy at the end of the 2018/19 season, beating Pochettino’s Spurs in the final to win the trophy for the first time since 2005.
Liverpool also amassed a club record 97 points in the Premier League, although that wasn’t enough to pip City to the title.
Upon receiving the award, Klopp said: “Wow. It’s quite heavy! I have to say thank you to a lot of people, start with my family sitting at home watching. Nobody would have expected this 20 years ago, five years ago, four years ago.
“I have to say thank you to my outstanding club Liverpool FC. Whoever doesn’t love it, has no heart. To the owners, they gave me an incredible team. Mike Gordon in particular. And I have to thank my team, because as a coach you are only as good as your team. I am really proud to be the manager to be such an incredible bunch of players.”
Klopp also used his award acceptance speech to announce that he was joining Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata’s Common Goal initiative, which sees figures from football donate 1 per cent of their salary to charity.
“We are all here on the really good side of life,” continued the Reds boss.
“There are people out there who do not have the same situation. From today on I am a member of the Common Goal family. If you don’t know it, Google it.”
Photo credit: Getty
