The 23 man Ballon d'Or shortlist was announced today. Here are the nominees:
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid), Ángel Di María (Real Madrid/Manchester United), Mario Götze(Bayern Munich), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich/Real Madrid), Philipp Lahm(Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Barcelona),Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar(Barcelona), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Arjen Robben(Bayern Munich), James Rodríguez (Monaco/Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Yaya Touré (Manchester City).
So no Luis Suarez, who obviously suffered from his biting and overall shit headedness.
The list goes down to 3 on December 1st then a winner is announced on January 12th.
I'd go with Ronaldo, Messi, and Muller as my final 3, with Ronaldo winning it for the second year in a row.
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Diego Costa (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), Thibaut Courtois (Atlético Madrid/Chelsea), Cristiano Ronaldo(Real Madrid), Ángel Di María (Real Madrid/Manchester United), Mario Götze(Bayern Munich), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (PSG), Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Toni Kroos (Bayern Munich/Real Madrid), Philipp Lahm(Bayern Munich), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Lionel Messi (Barcelona),Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar(Barcelona), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Arjen Robben(Bayern Munich), James Rodríguez (Monaco/Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Yaya Touré (Manchester City).
So no Luis Suarez, who obviously suffered from his biting and overall shit headedness.
The list goes down to 3 on December 1st then a winner is announced on January 12th.
I'd go with Ronaldo, Messi, and Muller as my final 3, with Ronaldo winning it for the second year in a row.