Monday 13 January 2014

Ballon d'Or: Ronaldo favourite ahead of Messi and Ribery

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is the odds-on favourite to win the Fifa Ballon d'Or Today.
The Portugal captain, 28, is named on a three-man shortlist for the prize, along with Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery of Bayern Munich.
The trio were chosen from a 23-man long list, with the world player of the year to be crowned at a ceremony in Zurich.
Winners of seven other awards, plus the Fifpro World XI team of the year, will also be announced.
Nadine Angerer (Germany), Marta (Brazil) and Abby Wambach (USA) are in the running for the women's world player of the year prize.
Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is vying with ex-Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes and Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp to be named men's coach of the year.
Wolfsburg's Ralf Kellermann, Germany boss Silvia Neid and Sweden coach Pia Sundhage are the final three for the women's coach of the year.
Five British players - England defenders Leighton Baines and Ashley Cole, midfielder Steven Gerrard, striker Wayne Rooney and Wales forward Gareth Bale - are in contention to be named in the Fifpro World XI.
Ceremony running order
17:30 (all times in GMT): Ceremony begins

17:35: FIFpro World XI

17:47: Presidential Award

18:03: World Coach Women's Football

18:08: World Coach Men's Football

18:24: Fair Play Award

18:29: Puskas Award

18:35: Special Award

18:44: Women's World Player of the Year

18:52: Ballon d'Or

The other Premier League nominees are: Chelsea's Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic and David Luiz, Manchester City's Vicent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero, Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic and Robin van Persie, Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and Liverpool's Luis Suarez.
France Football introduced the Ballon d'Or in 1956 to honour the European footballer of the year, before it was expanded in 2007 to become a global prize.
Argentina forward Messi, 26, has won the award for the past four years, but is widely tipped to be beaten by Ronaldo on this occasion.
The ex-Manchester United player, who last won in 2008, scored 66 goals in 56 games for club and country, He netted five hat-tricks, including a treble in November's World Cup play-off against Sweden to fire his nation to this summer's finals in Brazil.
France winger Ribery, 30, makes up the three-man shortlist after helping German giants Bayern Munich to five trophies - Bundesliga, German Cup, Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup - last year.

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