Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar on shortlist for Ballon d’Or – FIFA

Barcelona pair Lionel Messi and Neymar were on
Monday named on the shortlist for FIFA’s prestigious
Ballon d’Or along with double reigning title holder,
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid. While Portuguese
Ronaldo has triumphed over the last two seasons (in a
total of three wins), Argentinian Messi has previously
claimed the coveted award four times while Brazilian
Neymar makes the shortlist for FIFA’s player of the year
award for the first time.
Messi was the catalyst for Barcelona’s impressive run to
three titles last season (the Champions League, La Liga
and the Spanish Cup) and will be the standout favourite
ahead of Ronaldo. The Portugal international might have
finished the season without a trophy, but his individual
talent shone out as he was La Liga’s highest scorer with
48 goals, and has notched up a leading seven in the
Champions League this term.
World Cup-winning captain Carli Lloyd (USA/Houston
Dash), Aya Miyama (Japan/Okayama Yunogo Belle), and
Celia Sasic (Germany/1. FFC Frankfurt) are in the
running for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year
award.
Two Spanish coaches, Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola
and Barcelona’s Luis Enrique made the shortlist of the
FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award
alongside Jorge Sampaoli, the Argentinian coach who led
Chile to Copa America victory.
And Jill Ellis (USA/USA national team), Mark Sampson
(Wales/English national team) and Norio Sasaki (Japan/
Japanese national team) are the final trio to battle it out
for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s
Football award. All of the awards will be presented at the
FIFA Ballon d’Or award ceremony in Zurich on January
11, 2016.