Predicting the 23-man shortlist for the 2014 Ballon d'Or

Cristiano Ronaldo was the winner of the award in 2013The FIFA Ballon d'Or is one of the most talked about individual awards in the football world. The award was initially simply known as the Ballon d'Or and was merged with the FIFA Player of the Year award in 2010 and renamed as the FIFA Ballon d'Or. Only two people have won the award since and they are none other than Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. It will be interesting to see if the award will see different recipient this year because Ronaldo and Messi look strong favourites for the award once again. Every year, 23 players from around the world are nominated for the award based on their performances in a calendar year. And after a poll in which national team captains and managers and as well as journalists from around the world vote, the final three are announced before the main event.The winner is announced at the awards ceremony in front of a live audience based on the same polls. We take a look at who could make the 23-man shortlist.Source for Statistics: SquawkaDisclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author and not of the website.

#4 Serie A & Ligue 1

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ibrahimovic was the first player to have been nominated for the award while playing for a French club after the award was renamed as FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2010 when he was shortlisted in 2012. The Swede finished 10th in 2012 and then fourth last year as the prestegious award continues to evade the flamboyant striker. But he did win the Puskas award for the best goal (for Sweden against England).

Ibrahimovic has taken the Ligue 1 by storm and scored 25 club goals in 2014 and has also scored once for Sweden taking his tally for the current year to 26 goals. He was also the Ligue 1 top scorer and the Best Player of the Season award last time around. Ibrahimovic started the current season in style by scoring 5 goals in 2 league games before he suffered an injury which has kept him out of action till date.

Carlos Tevez

It's hard to recollect the last time Carlos Tevez had a poor run of form because that's how good the Argentine has been for Juventus in his debut season just like he was with in any season with all his previous clubs.

Tevez scored 21 goals for Juventus last season and helped them to a Serie A title, but was still overlooked for the Argentina squad at the World Cup. It is debatable whether he would have made a difference in a side that struggled to score goals even with the quality of attacking options at their disposal. But he could have easily been a better option than an out of form Rodrigo Palacio.

The Argentine has so far scored 17 goals in 2014 for Juventus with 8 of them coming this season.

Paul Pogba

The former Manchester United man is proving none other than Sir Alex Ferguson wrong with his performances for both club and country and has become an indispensable player for both. This has also made him one of the most discussed transfer targets for many clubs.

Pogba who won the Serie A tilte with Juventus this year, is slowly cementing a regular starting spot in the Turin side, thereby forcing experienced players Claudio Marchisio to be benched. The 21-year-old was also one of the standout performers at the FIFA World Cup and he was awarded with the FIFA World Cup Best Young Player award.

#3 Premier League

Angel Di Maria

It was surprsing that Real Madrid were ready to let a player of Di Maria's quality leave; especially when you know that Di Maria was the man of the match in the final of the UEFA Champions League. It was a game where he used his immense work rate and energy to good effect in extra time when other players were getting tired. He was equally impressive in the final of the Copa del Rey and made sure his side didn't feel the absence of their talisman Ronaldo.

The winger was also a key player for Argentina at the World Cup, but an injury forced him to miss the final against Germany and one can only wonder if the result may have been different if a game changer like Di Maria was available. He has quicky adapted to life in the Premier League and has already got 3 goals and 3 assists to his name.

Yaya Toure

Yaya Toure probably had the best season of his career on a personal basis in 2013/14. The Manchester City man scored 24 goals last season in 49 games which is quite remarkable for any midfielder. Out of his total tally 13 goals were scored in the latter half of the season in 2014. Toure also scored one goal each for club and country after the start of the new season which takes his tally for 2014 to 15 goals!

Toure scored some crucial goals for City like the equalizer in the League Cup final and the winner against Stoke City which proved vital as Ctiy marginally won the Premier League.

Diego Costa

Costa has scored 23 goals in 2014 –13 for Atletico Madrid, 9 for Chelsea and a debut goal for Spain. The adopted Spaniard had his breakthrough season with Atletico Madrid after taking centre stage following the transfer of Radamel Falcao to Monaco. The current Chelsea man was the third highest goal scorer in the league last season behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and this was despite him missing several matches through injury.

Chelsea secured Costa's services after he helped Atletico to the La Liga title last season and he has continued his fine run of form in the Premier League by finding the back of the net nine times already.

Costa Hazard — Chelsea’s Diego Costa (L) and Eden Hazard

Eden Hazard

Hazard took over from Juan Mata as the central figure in the Chelsea attack last season, and he was the only attacking player who had an assured starting spot in Jose Mourinho's side.

Hazard won the PFA Young Player of the Year award last season for his excellent performances for Chelsea after he returned very good figures of 14 goals and 7 assists. So far in the calendar year 2014, he has scored 10 goals with just 1 for the Belgium national team.

Although the Belgian had a good year, much more was expected from him at the World Cup where he failed to deliver and this could work against him even if he is shortlisted in the final 23. But with age on his side, Hazard can only improve.

#2 Bundesliga

Thomas Muller

Muller had a terrific season for both club and country as the German won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and the FIFA World Cup this year. Muller has scored 22 goals in 2014 so far, of which five were for Germany at the World Cup.

Last season Muller scored 13 goals and assisted 10 in the league and at the World Cup he started Germany’s proceedings with a hat-trick against Portugal and then later scored a goal each against USA and Brazil which took his total goal tally at the World Cup to 10 after just two tournaments. The German was also nominated for the Golden Ball award in Brazil for his brilliant performances.

Muller Robben — Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller and Arjen Robben

Arjen Robben

The Flying Dutchman seems to be getting stronger and stronger with age like wine. Robben helped his club to the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal after which he caused havoc on the pitch at the FIFA World Cup for the Netherlands. The Bayern Munich winger was on the top of his game at Brazil and his best performance at the tournament came against the then defending champions Spain where he scored two goals and caused all sorts of trouble for Ramos and Pique.

Robben’s heroics eventually could only help the Dutch finish as high as third at the World Cup. So far this season Robben has scored 11 goals combined for both club and country.

Manuel Neuer

So far, in the history of the award, only one goal keeper has ever won the Ballon d’Or. And if there is another one worthy of the award right now, it is Manuel Neuer. The Bayern Munich and German shot stopper was redefining the role of a goalkeeper recently with his performances, especially during the World Cup. Neuer was Germany’s saviour in some games with his spectacular saves of which the most notable ones were against Algeria where he played as sweeper keeper. His performances at the tournament didn’t go unnoticed as he was nominated for the Golden Ball award and also won the Golden Glove.

Neuer kept 15 clean sheets last season in the 31 league games he played for Bayern and he also kept four clean sheets in the seven games at the World Cup. He was the undisputed first choice for both club and country with whom he won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and the FIFA World Cup.

Lahm Neuer — Philipp Lahm and Manuel Neuer

Philipp Lahm

Lahm was deployed in a new midfield role by both his managers last season and the German adapted quickly and comfortably to his new role despite being one of the best in his original position. The only drawback of playing Lahm in midfield is that it leads to a massive decline in his contribution to his side’s attacks.

He captained Bayern Munich to Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal success and lifted the World Cup with Germany, again as captain. Last season for his club, Lahm completed an astonishing 92% of his passes despite being played as full back on many occasions, won almost 50% of his duels and completed around 77% of his take-ons.

Robert Lewandowski

The Pole moved on a free transfer between fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich at the end of last season, but that hasn’t affected the player’s performances on the pitch. Lewandowski has so far scored four goals for Bayern this season and assisted two and has scored 21 goals for both club and country in all competitions in the current year.

Lewandowski didn’t win any major honour with Borussia Dortmund last season despite having a strong season and this could severely affect his chances of finishing well in the awards if he makes the final 23-man shortlist.

Lewanowski Schweinsteiger — Robert Lewanowski (L) and Bastian Schweinsteiger

Bastian Schweinsteiger

Schweinsteiger is another Bayern Munich player who has represented Germany internationally and won the World Cup, Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal this year. The Bayern midfielder has spent a lot of time on the treatment table this year and has so far not played a game this season. But he has shown his worth and quality every time he has stepped out on the pitch.

The German averaged an impressive 89% pass completion last season and also scored eight goals from midfield. He was also one of the first names on the team sheet for Germany at the World Cup and he showed the whole world why when he refused to be subbed off in the final and finished the game when he was bleeding heavily from a wound on his face.

Xabi Alonso

Alonso was the force that held the Real Madrid midfield together last season during the long term absence of Sami Khedira. The former Liverpool man started almost every game when he was fit and dictated the play from deep in midfield, orchestrating his team’s counter attacks. He was also equally responsible for breaking up the opposition attack and winning the ball back. This was why he averaged 1.88 successful tackles in per game and won around 45% of his duels last season.

The current Bayern Munich man had won the UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey and the UEFA Super Cup with Real Madrid before moving to Germany.

Although the Spaniard missed the final of the Champions League, he was instrumental in guiding his side through to the finals, especially in the semi-final against Bayern Munich where he constantly broke up play. Alonso made a switch to Bayern Munich this season and has adapted to life in Germany very quickly with multiple man of the match awards.

#1 La Liga

Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo won the previous Ballon d’Or award and he will be looking to claim another and close the gap on Lionel Messi. The Portuguese forward has been in terrific form this year, despite having some injury woes around the end of last season which forced him to miss several games. Despite the injury concerns, the Real Madrid star has scored 43 goals in the calendar year and 39 of those goals were for Real Madrid with 19 coming in the current season.

Ronaldo also helped Real Madrid to two cup wins in the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League last season and scored both goals in the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, which was again won by Madrid. His performances, goals and multiple titles make him one of the hottest candidates for the award.

Lionel Messi

Messi will be looking to win his 5th Ballon d’Or award if he wins the award this year. The Barcellona man scored 41 goals in the calendar year of which 7 were for Argentina.

Although Messi didn’t win any major honours with either club or country this year, the Argentine has still been on the top of his game and was awarded the Golden Ball at the FIFA World Cup for the tournament’s best player while also finishing as the joint third highest goal scorer at the tournament with four goals. During the tournament he also won four back-to-back Man of the Match awards which is the highest for any player in the tournament history.

Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale had a very successful first season at Real Madrid. The Welshman was a key player in the Real Madrid side that won the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey last season and this season he has also won the UEFA Super Cup with Real Madrid.

Bale scored 21 goals in the calendar year with 3 of them coming for Wales. Although Bale’s contribution in terms of number of goals is small in comparison to Ronaldo or Messi, two of his goals were of great importance for Real Madrid because the Welshman scored the winning goals in the finals of both the UEFA Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

Neymar

Neymar, like his Barcelona teammate Messi, didn’t win any major honours this year. The Brazilan has scored 25 goals in the calendar year of which 13 goals were for Brazil! Neymar did miss a lot of games for Barcelona due to injury and managed only 4 goals for club in the latter half of last season but has already scored twice that number of goals for Barcelona this season.

Neymar’s best performances of the year were for Brazil and the 22-year-old was the heart of the Brazilian attack at the World Cup. He helped his side through to the semi-finals, but was out injured for the rest of the tournament. Nevertheless he still won the Bronze boot at the World Cup ahead of Lionel Messi.

Luis Suarez

Although Luis Suarez is currently serving a four month ban for his antics during the FIFA World Cup, the list would be incomplete without the controversial Uruguayan’s name on it. Suarez powered Liverpool to a Champions League spot last season and almost won the league title with the club. He also helped Uruguay into the knockout stage of the World Cup with a brace against England after making his return from injury in the same game.

The Uruguayan scored 16 goals in the calendar year of which 12 were for Liverpool and the remaining for Uruguay. He was recently awarded the European Golden Boot for scoring the most number of league goals in Europe last season (31 goals).

Luka Modric

Modric was arguably the best midfielder in La Liga last season. The Croatian was a central figure in the Real Madrid side that won the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey cup double last season as well as the UEFA Super Cup this season.

The Croatian’s influence on the game doesn’t always come from goals and assists much like Xavi or Iniesta. He boasted an impressive 90% pass completion last season and has almost matched that with 89% so far this season. Last season he also averaged 1.29 key passes and created 1.47 chances per game which is a very good return for a deep lying midfielder.

Toni Kroos

Toni Kroos made a switch from Bayern Munich to Real Madrid, who are two of the biggest clubs in Europe. Kroos won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with Bayern Munich this year but more importantly he won the FIFA World Cup with Germany where he also provided the most number of assists, some of which were due to his excellent set-piece delivery. Kroos was also nominated for the Golden Ball award at the World Cup.

The German averaged an impressive 92% pass completion last season and has maintained the figure so far this season, he also completed 90% of his passes at the FIFA World Cup.

Sergio Ramos

Sergio Ramos has been named in the FIFPro World XI in the last three years and it is very likely that the Spaniard will make the list a fourth time even if he doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or at the awards ceremony.

The Spaniard has been the leader in the Real Madrid defence for a while now and he kept a regular starting spot in the team which forced Raphael Varane and Pepe to work hard for the other spot. Ramos won the UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey and UEFA Super Cup this year with Real Madrid and the former Sevilla man’s biggest contribution came when he scored an iconic last minute goal in the final of the Champions League this year when his team needed a goal desperately to take the game into extra time.

Ramos Iniesta — Spain’s Sergio Ramos (L) and Andres Iniesta.

Andres Iniesta

Iniesta has finished second, third and fourth in the Ballon d’Or polls earlier and the prestigious award has always eluded him due to the incredible performances of either Ronaldo and Messi, or sometimes both.

The Barcelona midfielder’s impact on the game is not very direct, his best weapon is his dribbling skills which he uses to good effect to draw players out of position and free up spaces for his teammates. The Spaniard also completed 91% of his passes last season and created almost 1.5 chances per game. Although the Barcelona man was on the top of his game as usual, his performances were not enough to guide his club or country to any titles this year.

Edited by Staff Editor