Soccer:Fifa and France Football have today revealed the 23 nominees for the Ballon D'Or, the winner of which will be announced on January 7th. Twelve of those shortlisted play in Spain's Primera Liga, while only one Englishman - Wayne Rooney - is included.
The Manchester United striker is one of four players from the Barclay's Premier League. Manchester City's Mario Balotelli, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero are the other three.
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is also nominated but he now plays his football with Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
Of those nominated from Spain, only Radamel Falcao, Atletico Madrid's Colombian striker is not playing his football at either Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Lionel Messi won the award for the third time last year, besting Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo and his Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez, who is nominated again this year.
The Argentine is once again the favourite after he was today presented with the Golden Boot award for finishing as the top goalscorer in Europe last season.
It is the second time Messi has collected the honour and comes after he scored a remarkable 50 goals in the Primera Division - four more than Ronaldo.
“This is a group prize,” Messi told Barca’s official website. “I always say that when an individual wins something like this. That’s a fact, and this one more than any. It is a prize for scoring goals, but I’d never have done it without my team-mates.”
Ronaldo, however, will have genuine claims on the Ballon D'Or for 2012, having scored freely as Real overhauled Barcelona in the league last year.
Messi's former coach at Barcelona and last year's manager of the year, Pep Guardiola, is again among the nominees for the managers’ award, as is Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo, who led the London team to the Champions League title and an FA Cup, and Vicente del Bosque, who guided Spain to the Euro 2012 title.
Seven members of Del Bosque’s squad are shortlisted. They are Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Iker Casillas, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos and Xavi.
Player nominees:Sergio Aguero (Argentina), Xabi Alonso (Spain), Mario Balotelli (Italy), Karim Benzema (France), Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Sergio Busquets (Spain), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Radamel Falcao (Colombia), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Gerard Pique (Spain), Andrea Pirlo (Italy), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Wayne Rooney (England), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Robin van Persie (Holland), Xavi (Spain).
Coach nominees:Vicente del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team), Roberto Di Matteo (Italy/Chelsea), Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United), Pep Guardiola (Spain/Barcelona former coach), Jupp Heynckes (Germany/Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund), Joachim Low (Germany/Germany national team), Roberto Mancini (Italy/Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid), Cesare Prandelli (Italy/Italy national team).
