Ballon d'Or nominees released
Correspondent | Wednesday October 30, 2013 14:56
Five Premier League players - the Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, Manchester City's Yaya Toure, Liverpool's frontman Luis Suarez, the Chelsea forward Eden Hazard and the Arsenal midfielder Mesut …zil - are also on the shortlist.
The 23-man shortlist for the prestigious world player of the year award was announced early on Tuesday morning, with the winner to be unveiled on January 13 in Zurich.
The Barcelona and Argentina forward Messi has won the award for the last four years, with Bale's Madrid team-mate Ronaldo consistently his nearest challenger.Franck Ribery, who was named Uefa's best player in Europe for the 2012-13 season after helping Bayern Munich win the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup, is another challenger on the shortlist.
Ribery is joined by five of his Champions League-winning club-mates Philipp Lahm, Thomas Myller, Manuel Neuer, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger while Barcelona also have Xavi, Andres Iniesta and their £50 million summer signing Neymar among the candidates.
The Paris Saint-Germain trio of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva have made the shortlist while fellow Ligue 1 big-spenders Monaco have a contender of their own in Radamel Falcao, acquired from Atletico Madrid in the close season.
The former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson headlines a 10-man coach of the year shortlist along with Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and the Spain coach Vicente del Bosque.
Ballon d'Or shortlist:
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales), Edinson Cavani (Paris St-Germain/Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St-Germain/Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich/Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund/Poland), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina), Thomas Myller (Bayern Munich/Germany), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany), Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil), Mesut …zil (Arsenal/Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italy), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/France), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich/Holland), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich/Germany), Luis Su‡rez (Liverpool/Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Paris St-Germain/Brazil), Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory Coast), Robin van Persie (Manchester United/Holland), Xavi (Barcelona/Spain).
Coach of the year shortlist:
Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid/ex-Paris St-Germain),
Rafael Ben’tez (Napoli/ex-Chelsea),
Antonio Conte (Juventus),
Vicente del Bosque (Spain),
Sir Alex Ferguson (ex-Manchester United),
Jupp Heynckes (ex-Bayern Munich),
Jyrgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund),
Jose Mourinho (Chelsea/ex-Real Madrid),
Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil),
Arsne Wenger (Arsenal).