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Franck Ribery

LONDON. — Six players from Bayern Munich’s treble-winning team were included among the 23 nominees for the World Player of the Year award announced by Fifa yesterday.
Wales winger Gareth Bale also joins Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo among the leading contenders for Fifa’s Ballon d’Or award.
The 23-man shortlist for the prestigious World Player of the Year award was announced early yesterday morning, with the winner — voted for by coaches, captains and journalists — to be unveiled on January 13 in Zurich.

Bale became the world’s most expensive player when he joined Real Madrid from Tottenham for 100m euros (£85,3m) in September after a 26-goal haul for Spurs.

But he faces tough competition for the prize from his Madrid teammate Ronaldo — winner in 2008 — and Barcelona forward Messi, who has won the award for the last four years.

Five English Premier League players — Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, controversial Liverpool frontman Luis Suarez, Chelsea winger Eden Hazard and Arsenal’s recent addition Mesut Ozil — make the cut — but there are no English players included.

Jose Mourinho was included on the shortlist for Coach of the Year despite failing to win any major trophies with Real Madrid last season, a performance the Portuguese himself described as “disastrous”.

The only British player to make the list was Wales international Bale.
African Cup of Nations winning coach Stephen Keshi of Nigeria was overlooked and Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure was the only African to make either list. There were no representatives from Asia or CONCACAF.

German internationals Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Mueller and Philipp Lahm, Frenchman Franck Ribery and Dutchman Arjen Robben were the Bayern players on the list.

Joining the Bayern contingent were the usual favourites such as Messi, Andres Iniesta and Ronaldo.
Bayern’s former coach Jupp Heynckes, since replaced by Pep Guardiola, was on the coaches list after leading his side to a Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League treble.

The omission of Bayern’s Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic was a surprise as many critics felt he had made the difference between last season and 2011/12, where Bayern were runners-up in all three competitions.

Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose side hosted and won the Confederations Cup in June, was the only South American to make the coaching shortlist.

Radamel Falcao, Edinson Cavani, Luis Suarez, Neymar and Thiago Silva were the South American nominees for the Player of the Year award, along with Messi. All six are based in Europe.

Although several of the nominated coaches failed to win a major trophy last season, Mourinho’s nomination was the biggest surprise as his side’s results fell far short of Real Madrid’s expectations.

They finished 15 points behind Barcelona in La Liga, lost to smaller neighbours Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey final and were outclassed by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinals.

Atletico’s Argentine coach Diego Simeone was overlooked.
“The list of 23 male candidates has been drawn up by football experts from the Fifa Football Committee and by a group of experts from France Football,” said Fifa in a statement.

It said the final decisions would be made by the captains and coaches of the national teams and international media representatives selected by France Football magazine. The ceremony takes place in Zurich on January 13.

Ribery, who was named Uefa’s best player in Europe for the 2012-13 season after helping Bayern Munich win the Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup, is another prominent name on the shortlist.

Ribery is joined by club-mates Lahm, Muller, Neuer, Robben and Schweinsteiger while Barcelona also have Xavi, Andres Iniesta and summer signing Neymar among the candidates.

Paris St Germain trio Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani and Thiago Silva have made the shortlist while fellow French Ligue 1 big-spenders Monaco have a contender of their own in Radamel Falcao, acquired from Atletico Madrid in the close season.

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who retired at the end of last season, headlines a 10-man coach of the year shortlist along with Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Spain boss Vicente del Bosque.

Ballon d’Or shortlist
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid/Wales), Edinson Cavani (Paris St Germain/Uruguay), Radamel Falcao (Monaco/Colombia), Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Belgium), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St Germain/Sweden), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona/Spain), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich/Germany), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund/Poland), Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich/Germany), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich/Germany), Neymar (Barcelona/Brazil), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal/Germany), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus/Italy), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich/France), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich/Netherlands), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Portugal), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich/Germany), Luis Suarez (Liverpool/Uruguay), Thiago Silva (Paris St Germain/Brazil), Yaya Toure (Manchester City/Ivory Coast), Robin van Persie (Manchester United/Netherlands), Xavi (Barcelona/Spain).

Coach of the year shortlist
Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid/ex-Paris St Germain), Rafael Benitez (Napoli/ex-Chelsea), Antonio Conte (Juventus), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain), Sir Alex Ferguson (ex-Manchester United), Jupp Heynckes (ex-Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund), Jose Mourinho (Chelsea/ex-Real Madrid), Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal). — Sky Sports.