FIFA announces Ronaldo, Messi and Ribery as final three candidates for Ballon d’Or

Cristiano Ronaldo,Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery, have been annnounced as the final three players that are up for this year’s Ballond’Or.

Ronaldo appears to be favourite to claim the prize, which he won for the only
time in 2008 while at Manchester United. The Portuguese has scored 34 goals in the 2013/2014 season and scored all the goals in Portugal’s World Cup play-off against Sweden, as his country qualified for the mundial.
Ribery is also in contention for the award, after being
named UEFA’s Best Player in Europe for the
2012/2013 season, in which he helped Bayern Munich
win the Champions League, Bundesliga and German
Cup.
Messi, who has already won the Ballon d’Or four years
in a row, is regarded as the outsider this year, because
of a injury-hit campaign, although the Argentine has
been profilic too, scoring 45 goals as Barcelona
stormed to the La Liga crown.
The winner will be revealed at the FIFA Ballon d’Or
gala in Zurich on January 13, 2014.
The initial 23-man list was compiled by the FIFA
Football Committee and a group of experts from
France Football and announced on October 29.