FIFA Releases 23 Man List For The Ballon D’Or [FULL LIST]

FIFA on Monday released the list of 23 players and 10 coaches who are considered for the prestigious Ballon D’Or and Coach of the year awards respectively. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Zurich on 7 January 2013. These will be selected by the captains and head coaches of the men’s national teams as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football magazine. Unsurprisingly, no Nigerian made the list and Africa as a continent was represented by Striker Didier Drogba, who scored the winning penalty in Chelsea’s Champions League final shoot-out win over Bayern Munich – his final kick for the club before leaving to join Shanghai Shenhua and his compatriot, Yaya Toure for his talismanic and mesmeric display in Manchester City’s maiden EPL triumph. Last year’s winner, Lionel Messi is a notable inclusion along with Portugese ace, Cristiano Ronaldo and the player’s player, Andres Iniesta who are touted to be the last three standing at the end of the day when the shortlist will be narrowed down to three names for each category on 29 November.   The list of all the nominees is as follows: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City/Argentina) Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid/Spain) Mario Balotelli (Manchester City/Italy) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/France) Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus/Italy) Sergio Busquets (Barcelona/Spain) Iker Casillas (Real Madrid/Spain) Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal) Didier Drogba (Shanghai Shenhua/Ivory Coast) Radamel Falcao (Atletico Madrid/Colombia) Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St Germain/Sweden) Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain) Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina) Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany) Neymar (Santos/Brazil) Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid/Germany) Gerard Pique (Barcelona/Spain) Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italy) Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid/Spain) Wayne Rooney (Manchester United/England) Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory Coast) Robin van Persie (Manchester United/Netherlands) Xavi (Barcelona/Spain)   Coach nominees: Vicente del Bosque (Spain/Spain national team) Roberto Di Matteo (Italy/Chelsea) Alex Ferguson (Scotland/Manchester United) Pep Guardiola (Spain/Barcelona) Jupp Heynckes (Germany/Bayern Munich) Juergen Klopp (Germany/Borussia Dortmund) Joachim Loew (Germany/Germany national team) Roberto Mancini (Italy/Manchester City) Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Real Madrid) Cesare Prandelli (Italy/Italy national team)