Footballer of the Year Ruben Dias is Europe’s most-popular defender ahead of Euro 2020
Defending is cool again.
Following on from Virgil van Dijk's PFA Player of the Year win 2018/19, Ruben Dias has been named FWA Footballer of the Year for this season after a sustained period of domination at centre-back.
Two defensive winners in three years may not seem like much of a trend but it's notable given the last defender to win either of the top individual awards on these shores before Van Dijk was John Terry in 2004/05.
And the last defender to claim the FWA's gong before Dias was Steve Nicol in 1988/89.
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Pepe and Jose Fonte have also been included in Fernandes Santos' 26-man squad for Euro 2020 but they have a combined age of 75.
The former proved he is still capable of heroic backs-to-the-wall penalty box defending earlier this season when Porto repelled Juventus in a memorable Champions League knockout tie while the latter was instrumental in Lille pipping PSG to the Ligue 1 title.
It's possible we could see the two experienced heads rotate alongside Dias for the duration of the tournament.