The shortlist for the prestigious FIFA Ballon d’Or award has been announced with several names from the Premier League managing to make it into the shortlist. The first 30 man shortlist has just been announced.
It will be reduced to a three-man shortlist before naming the winner in December. Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is the overwhelming favourite to get this award after helping his team win the Champions League and also scoring more than 50 goals along the way. A number of players in the Premier League like Diego Costa and Eden Hazard have also been named in the list.
Many of the players have moved from Spanish football only in the summer and this list includes the likes of Angel di Maria, who was named man of the match in the Champions League final, and Thibaut Courtois, who helped Atletico Madrid get an unlikely league title. Chelsea have one of the biggest representations from the Premier League with five names. One of the biggest absentees from the list is Barcelona forward Luis Suarez, who scored 31 league goals and helped Liverpool to a second place finish. However, his suspension of four months after being found guilty of biting Giorgio Chiellini appears to have played a major role in the omission.
Unsurprisingly, Champions League winners Real Madrid have a big presentation with names like James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos also on the list along with Ronaldo. In any other season, they would have been the overwhelming favourites to have the winner, but this being a World Cup year, it is also likely that a player from the German national team may also be crowned as the winner. Four-time FIFA Ballon d’Or award winner Lionel Messi is also on the list, but he is unlikely to win it this time around.
