Sports
- Super User
- Category: Sports
- Tuesday, 28 October 2014 15:55
Who wins this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or? See the 23-man shortlist...
Manchester United's record signing Angel Di Maria, Diego Costa, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois and Yaya Toure - made the cut on FIFA's 23-man shortlist., along with usual suspects Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, who between them have won the last six world player of the year trophies.
Gareth Bale also features after an exceptional first season at Real Madrid, which saw him win the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Copa Del Rey.
But there's no place, unsurprisingly, for any Englishman after another disappointing year that saw the national side exit the World Cup in the group stages.
The list is dominated by top performers from Brazil, with six players from the winning Germany squad among those named.
James Rodriguez is also rewarded for his performances for Colombia, while Paul Pogba's impressive displays for France see him featured.
However, Ronaldo is likely to be the favourite to win the top award for the second year in a row after a Champions League win and an astonishing start to the current season, which has seen him score 21 goals before the end of October.
FIFA also announced the coach of the year shortlist, including Premier League-winning boss Manuel Pellegrini, Jose Mourinho and Manchester United's Louis van Gaal.
Ballon d'Or shortlist:
1. Gareth Bale (Wales)
2. Karim Benzema (France)
3. Diego Costa (Spain)
4. Thibaut Courtois (Belgium)
5. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
6. Angel Di Maria (Argentina)
7. Mario Goetze (Germany)
8. Eden Hazard (Belgium)
9. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
10. Andres Iniesta (Spain)
11. Toni Kroos (Germany)
12. Philipp Lahm (Germany)
13. Javier Mascherano (Argentina)
14. Lionel Messi (Argentina)
15. Thomas Mueller (Germany)
16. Manuel Neuer (Germany)
17. Neymar (Brazil)
18. Paul Pogba (France)
19. Sergio Ramos (Spain)
20. Arjen Robben (Netherlands)
21. James Rodriguez (Colombia)
22. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
23. Yaya Toure (Côte d'Ivoire)
FIFA World Coach of the Year shortlist:
1. Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid CF)
2. Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus FC/Italy national team)
3. Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich)
4. Juergen Klinsmann (Germany/ USA national team)
5. Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team)
6. Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea FC)
7. Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City FC)
8. Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina national team)
9. Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid)
10. Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands national team/Manchester United FC)
Credit: Mirror.co.uk