Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery lead 23-man shortlist for 2013 Ballon d'Or
Cristiano Ronaldo and Franck Ribery along with Lionel Messi are the expected front-runners for this year’s Ballon d’Or prize
FIFA has released the shortlists for both the 2013 Ballon d’Or as well as the 2013 Coach of the Year awards on Monday night. As always, the proverbial duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi feature on the shortlist. However, they are joined by a whole host of Bayern Munich players led by Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben as they won it all last season capping it off with an unprecedented treble – winning the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the UEFA Champions League – becoming the first German side to do so.
Ribery has already claimed UEFA’s European Player of the Year award, ahead of Ronaldo and Messi.
Messi has won the last four Ballon d’Or’s, but is expected to be deposed with Barcelona being beaten by Bayern in the semi-finals of last year’s Champions League as well as having an injury-hit season. Barca’s new Brazilian recruit Neymar joins Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta on the list, to take the count of Barca players to four, after his exploits for former club Santos.
Madrid new man, Gareth Bale is also in the reckoning for his fine season with Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League. Other prominent candidates from the Premier League include prolific strikers Luis Suarez and Robin van Persie and midfielder Yaya Toure.
The 10-man shortlist for the Coach of the Year award were also released and it features two managers who announced their retirement at the end of last season – treble winner Jupp Heynckes and former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The winners will be announced in a function at Zurich on January 13, 2014.
Ballon d’Or nominees (nationalities, teams)
Gareth Bale (Wales, Tottenham Hotspur/Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Uruguay, Napoli/PSG), Radamel Falcao (Colombia, Atletico Madrid/Monaco), Eden Hazard (Belgium, Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, PSG), Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona), Philipp Lahm (Germany, Bayern Munich), Robert Lewandowski (Poland, Borussia Dortmund), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), Thomas Mueller (Germany, Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich), Neymar (Brazil, Santos/Barcelona), Mesut Ozil (Germany, Real Madrid/Arsenal), Andrea Pirlo (Italy, Juventus), Franck Ribery (France, Bayern Munich), Arjen Robben (Netherlands, Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, Bayern Munich), Luis Suarez (Uruguay, Liverpool), Thiago Silva (Brazil, PSG), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast, Manchester City), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands, Manchester United), Xavi (Spain, Barcelona).