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Ranieri, Santos, Zidane to battle for FIFA's coach of the year award

John Clifton / Reuters

A storybook year could yet be bookended by even more silverware for Claudio Ranieri, after the Leicester City manager was named a finalist for the 2016 Best FIFA Men's Coach award.

The affable Italian, who led the Foxes to an unforgettable Premier League title last season, is joined by fellow nominees Fernando Santos and Zinedine Zidane. The former is in the running after masterminding Portugal's Euro 2016 triumph, while the Frenchman helped Real Madrid taste Champions League glory after replacing Rafa Benitez last season - and now has his club enjoying a 32-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

(Courtesy: FIFA)

An initial 10-man shortlist was reduced to the final trio after a voting process that saw ballots cast by national team coaches and captains, media, and fans.

The award will be presented Jan. 9, during a ceremony in Zurich, Switzerland.

Ranieri and Santos both led unlikely teams to glory within months of each other.

Leicester's 5000-1 odds to win English football's most coveted crown were soon made to look foolish, as the Italian manager coaxed the most out of a rag-tag core of players and oversaw breathtaking counterattacking football.

Santos' Portugal, meanwhile, adopted a similar defensive model to reach the Euro final in Paris, and later had to do without talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Madrid star dedicated the triumph to the 62-year-old afterwards.

Zidane's success was just as unexpected considering the environment he inherited. The 1998 World Cup winner had no experience as a top-flight manager when he succeeded Benitez at the helm last December, and many doubted whether his illustrious playing career would translate to the bench.

Instead, he freed his team of Galacticos from Benitez' restrictive and tactical philosophy, and although Madrid came short in La Liga, it produced a thrilling shootout victory in Milan over cross-town rival Atletico.

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