Ballon d'Or holder Cristiano Ronaldo and four-time winner
Lionel Messi are among 23 players on FIFA's list of contenders
for this year's award honouring the world's top player.
The list was compiled by the FIFA Football Committee with the
help of French magazine France Football. It will be trimmed to
a shortlist of three on Dec. 1, with the winner announced at a
ceremony in Zurich on Jan 12, 2015.
Messi won the award four straight years from 2009-2012, while
Ronaldo won it in 2008 and 2013. The award was presented
solely by France Football until 2009, and the publication joined
with FIFA's World Player of the Year Award for the 2010 edition.
The list features 17 players from Europe, five from South
America and one from Africa (Yaya Toure). World champions
Germany are the most represented with six entries.
All of the candidates play their club football in Europe, for only
eight different clubs, with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich tied
for the most with six each, followed by Barcelona with four.
Two goalkeepers were named to the shortlist: Belgium's
Thibaut Courtois and Germany's Manuel Neuer.
There was no place on the list for Barcelona striker Luis Suarez,
who was named the Premier League's Player of the Year last
season while at Liverpool and shared the Golden Ball award as
Europe's top goal scorer last term with Ronaldo, following his
four-month ban for biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini during a
match at the World Cup.
The list of 23 contenders
Gareth Bale, Wales, Real Madrid
Karim Benzema, France, Real Madrid
Diego Costa, Spain, Chelsea
Thibaut Courtois, Belgium, Chelsea
Angel Di Maria, Argentina, Manchester United
Mario Gotze, Germany, Bayern Munich
Eden Hazard, Belgium, Chelsea
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden, Paris Saint-Germain
Andres Iniesta, Spain, Barcelona
Toni Kroos, Germany, Real Madrid
Philipp Lahm, Germany, Bayern Munich
Javier Mascherano, Argentina, Barcelona
Lionel Messi, Argentina, Barcelona
Thomas Muller, Germany, Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer, Germany, Bayern Munich
Neymar, Brazil, Barcelona
Paul Pogba, France, Juventus
Sergio Ramos, Spain, Real Madrid
Arjen Robben, Netherlands, Bayern Munich
James Rodriguez, Colombia, Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal, Real Madrid
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Germany, Bayern Munich
Yaya Toure, Ivory Coast, Manchester City

FIFA also released the 10 candidates for the Coach of the Year
award.
It included Joachim Low and Alejandro Sabella, the coaches of
World Cup finalists Germany and Argentina, as well as the
winners of the domestic club leagues in England (Maneul
Pellegrini), Germany (Pep Guardiola), Spain (Diego Simeone)
and Italy (Antonio Conte).

The list:
Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid
Antonio Conte, Juventus/Italy
Pep Guardiola, Bayern Munich
Jurgen Klinsmann, United States
Joachim Low, Germany
Jose Mourinho, Chelsea
Manuel Pellegrini, Manchester City
Alejandro Sabella, Argentina
Diego Simeone, Atletico Madrid
Louis van Gaal, Netherlands/Manchester United

Ronaldo
messi
bale/ hazard/ muller/yaya toure/robben ........its a close call though

coach of d year......Diego someone , no arguement

mourinho for coach of the year

Inasmuch as i think Hazard should be in the 23 man shortlist,i don't think he and Iniesta deserves to be there more than Luis Suarez! His stats speaks for themselves,he single handedly took liverpool to the Ucl and nearly handed them the Epl trophy!....like Kris Voakes said "THE FIFA BALLON D'OR IS A FOOTBALLING PRIZE NOT A POLITICAL ...." his discipline does not warrant his non-inclusion! This prize has lost it's credibility.

Ronaldo will take it again, too bad for all the messi fanatics

Blatter and co went over the top,and masked their insincerity with some distorted words back in 2010 when they clearly omitted the name of the man who deserved to win the award(Sneijder,my opinion though) from the final three shortlisted names.It took something of a public protest from Ronaldo,Real Madrid and their fans for Blatter and co to push the award Ronaldo's way again last year.With that in mind,I think the direction is known only to Blatter and co.
Anyway,Ronaldo should stroll to this one.His ridiculous goal scoring exploits coupled with last season's UCL and Copa del Rey triumphs should make it a relatively easy win for him.
As for the manager,Jogi Low's world cup triumph which produces a particular 7-1 annihilation of the host country should strenghten his claim to the award.Ancelotti the close second,while Simeone completes the top three.

a german owns this