The players of the national beach soccer team, António José Namape Júnior "Figo" and Nelson João Manuel, are on the list of 100 candidates for the title of Player of the Year 2021.

The information was released by Beach Soccer WorldWide, the body that manages, along with FIFA, the beach soccer at the international level. The list includes names like Jordan Santos from Portugal and Glenn Hodel (top scorer of the world) and Noël Ott (best player), both from Switzerland.

Nelson was nominated for being the best player and scorer in the African Beach Soccer Championship Senegal 2021 and the four-goal angler in the Beach Soccer World Championship Russia 2021, where Figo scored a hat-trick (three goals) and a pocker (four goals) in the same game.

The candidates were nominated by a panel of beach soccer experts composed of coaches, national team captains and clubs participating in world beach soccer competitions.

Voting will take place next week and the three finalists will be announced in late October at the Beach Soccer Stars Gala at the Intercontinental Beach Soccer Cup in Dubai.