England's Mark Sampson in running for FIFA coaching award
Tuesday 1 December 2015 13:20, UK
Mark Sampson has been nominated for FIFA's Women's Coach of the Year award after guiding England to third at the World Cup.
The Lionesses coach, appointed in December 2013, has overseen an improvement of the national team in the last two years.
They have won 12 of the 19 games they have played in 2015, with three of those victories coming in Canada during the summer before elimination from the World Cup at the semi-final stage.
Sampson will face competition from two other coaches for the award, the winner of which will be announced at the Ballon d'Or Gala in Zurich on January 11.
One of those is the USA's Portsmouth-born Jill Ellis, who guided her home nation to victory in the World Cup final in July.
They beat Japan 5-2 in Vancouver and the losing coach in that game, Norio Sasaki, is the final contender.
