Soccer: Seven Spaniards were named among the 23 nominees for the Fifa Ballon D'Or on Tuesday morning, five of whom play for European champions Barcelona, who have eight players shortlisted altogether. In total, 13 Spanish-based players have been included.
Eric Abidal of France, Dani Alves of Brazil and last year’s winner Lionel Messi of Argentina are the three non-Spanish players represent the Catalan club and the latter is a shoo-in, according to one of his team-mates.
"I would put my hand in fire that Messi will win the Ballon D'Or," clubmate and fellow nominee Cesc Fabregas told Fifa's website. "He is a natural winner and a motivated fighter."
The quartet is joined on the list by Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, David Villa, Xavi Hernandez, while Real Madrid have Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Mesut Ozil (Germany) and Xabi Alonso (Spain).
La Liga, therefore, accounts for 13 of those nominated, with Diego Forlan of Uruguay and Inter Milan, and Sergio Aguero of Manchester City, formerly of Atletico Madrid, recent departures from the league.
Aguero is one of four nominees from the Premier League, alongside the Manchester United duo of Wayne Rooney (England) and Nani (Portugal), and Forlan’s international team-mate Luis Suarez of Liverpool.
Suarez was the player of the tournament in last summer’s Copa America as Uruguay backed up their third-place finish in the 2010 World Cup by claiming the South American crown.
Also listed are Anzhi Makhachkala’s Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), the Bayern Munich pairing of Thomas Muller (Germany) and Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) Neymar (Brazil) and Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).
Neymar of Brazilian side Santos is the only players based outside of Europe to be included.
Fifa has also announced the candidates for its coach of the year title, with Manchester United's Alex Ferguson, Barcelona's Pep Guardiola, Lille's Rudi Garcia and Borussia Dortmund's Juergen Klopp among those included on the 10-man list after leading their clubs to domestic league titles.
Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez was named for securing the nation's first Copa America title since 1995.
The lists were drawn up by members of Fifa's football committee, its technical and development committee and France Football magazine staff.
The winners will be picked by national team captains, coaches and international media. The shortlists will be cut to three candidates in each category on December 5th, with a final announcement on January 9th in Zurich.
Player nominees: Eric Abidal (France), Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dani Alves (Brazil), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Nani (Portugal), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), Luis Suarez (Uruguay), David Villa (Spain), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Xavi (Spain).
Coach nominees: Vicente Del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United FC), Rudi Garcia (France/Lille OSC), Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Barcelona), Jurgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Joachim Low (Germany/Germany national team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid), Oscar Tabarez (Uruguay/Uruguay national team), Andre Villas-Boas (Portugal/FC Porto, Chelsea, Arsene Wenger (France/Arsenal).
