ANKARA
The 23 male nominees of the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or -- including Real Madrid's Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Argentine powerhouse Lionel Messi -- were unveiled on Tuesday.
According to news on FIFA.com, the candidates of FIFA Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Coach of the Year awards have been named by FIFA officials and the France Football magazine.
It was announced that the last three finalists for the awards will be announced on December 1 and the winners will be revealed on January 12, 2015 in the Swiss city of Zurich.
The FIFA Ballon d'Or winner will be determined by team captains, head coaches of national teams and international media representatives.
Meanwhile the FIFA Fair Play Award, FIFA Presidential Award, FIFA Puskas Award -- awarded for the best goal of the year -- and FIFA FIFPro World XI Award -- awarded for the best FIFA starting eleven -- will also be presented.
The FIFA Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Coach of the Year candidates are as follows:
FIFA Ballon d'Or:
Gareth Bale (Wales), Karim Benzema (France), Diego Costa (Spain), Thibaut Courtois (Belgium), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Angel Di Maria (Argentina), Mario Gotze (Germany), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Toni Kroos (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Javier Mascherano, Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Manuel Neuer (Germany), Neymar (Brazil), Paul Pogba (France), Sergio Ramos (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), James Rodriguez (Colombia), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast).
FIFA World Coach of the Year:
Carlo Ancelotti (Italy/Real Madrid), Antonio Conte (Italy/Juventus/Italy National Football Team), Pep Guardiola (Spain/Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany/USA National Football Team), Joachim Low (Germany/Germany National Football Team), Jose Mourinho (Portugal/Chelsea), Manuel Pellegrini (Chile/Manchester City), Alejandro Sabella (Argentina/Argentina National Football Team), Diego Simeone (Argentina/Atletico Madrid), Louis van Gaal (Netherlands/Netherlands National Football Team/Manchester United).
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