On Tuesday, FIFA announced its shortlist for the 2013 Ballon d'Or which will be awarded to the top player in the world during the calendar year. The list included a number of surprises, including six players from Bayern Munich.
Franck Ribery, who recently won the 2013 Best Player in Europe Award was joined by Munich teammates Philipp Lahm, Thomas Mueller, Manuel Neuer, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Bayern Munich won the German Bundesliga, Champions League and Germany Cup in 2012-13 and were the best team in the world. Ribery has been hailed as the favorite by numerous pundits after his terrific performance for club and country.
The remainder of the list included the likes of Gareth Bale, Edinson Cavani, Radamel Falcao, Eden Hazard, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Andrés Iniesta, Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Mesut Özil, Andrea Pirlo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suárez, Thiago Silva, Yaya Touré, Robin Van Persie and Xavi Hernandez.
In the 2012 competition, 11 Spanish based players were included on the list; that number has dropped to six and features two Real Madrid players (Ronaldo and Bale) and four Barcelona stars (Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Neymar).
The results for the shortlist have been far-ranging and include mixed reactions over some of the selections.
@GFN_France : Legend Zinedine Zidane believes that Mathieu Valbuena should have made this year's shortlist for the Ballon D'Or. #OM
@Rod_ee : Ozil is named for the shortlist for Ballon d'OR OH yess
@irahulbanga : Don't see any difference between Ballon d'Or and DJ Mag awards. Nah!
@AfricasaCountry : Yaya Toure (@TOURE_YAYA42), only African player (Neymar is of African descent) on the FIFA Ballon d'Or 23 man shortlst cc @FutbolsaCountry
@rami2khoury : Ribery is winning ballon d'or
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