Six Germans nominated
October 28, 2014
Following their World Cup win in Brazil, German national team footballers make up the biggest chunk of this year's 23-man shortlist for the FIFA Ballon d'Or, formerly known as the World Footballer of the Year award.
The German cast includes the Bayern Munich stars Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Müller and Mario Götze, along with Toni Kroos who moved from Bayern to Real Madrid in the summer.
Bayern's Dutch star Arjen Robben has also made the list as well as five players from Champions League winning team, Real Madrid: Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez and last year's winner Cristiano Ronaldo.
Argentina's Lionel Messi, who has won the prize four times, is also included, as are his Barcelona teammates Andres Iniesta, Javier Mascherano and Neymar.
In the 10-man shortlist for FIFA Coach of the Year, Germany's national team coach Joachim Löw has also been nominated. Bayern coach Pep Guardiola and US national team manager Jürgen Klinsmann are also on the top coaches list.
The shortlist of players and coaches were selected by football experts from the FIFA football committee and the magazine France Football. The final winner will be chosen by the captains and coaches of national teams as well as by international media representatives, on January 12, 2015, in Zurich.
The full player shortlist: Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Götze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano (Argentina), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Müller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
al/cb (dpa, SID)