World Cup:Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands and Spain's David Villa have been included on the 10-man shortlist for the World Cup Golden Ball award. The tournament's leading scorers, with five goals apiece, will meet in Sunday's final at Soccer City.
The Golden Ball is awarded to the tournament's best player, as decided by Fifa’s technical committee. The shortlist includes Lionel Messi, who failed to score a goal in South Africa but was in sparkling form during the group stages.
Germany midfielder Thomas Muller, Mexico forward Giovani dos Santos and Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew have made the three-man shortlist for the young player award.
Muller, who has scored four goals, is the favourite and he would follow team-mate Lukas Podolski who won the award in 2006. The winner will be announced after Sunday’s final.
Golden Ball nominees:Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Mesut Oezil (Germany), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain), Xavi (Spain), Andres Iniesta (Spain)