No Ghanaian footballer found a place in FIFA's 23-man shortlist for the men's World Footballer of the Year award.
Not even highly acclaimed midfielders, Kevin-Prince Boateng (Schalke 04), Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus) and Michael Essien (Chelsea) made it onto the highly competitive list.
Apart from Cote d’Ivoire and Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, no other African footballer made the list, which included four other Premier League players in Eden Hazard, Mesut Ozil, Luis Suarez, and Robin van Persie.
Four-time winner, Lionel Messi, was shortlisted alongside three of his Barcelona teammates – iniesta Neymar and Xavi.
Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the award in 2008, has also been nominated.
The last also included six players from Bayern Munich, which the treble last season. The players are: Thomas Muller, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben.
Ghana coach, Kwesi Appiah, also missed out on a 10-man list in the running for coach of the year.
The winners will be announced on 13 January, 2014 in Zurich.
Fifa world men's player of the year shortlist: Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Edinson Cavani (Paris St-Germain), Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris St-Germain), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Neymar (Barcelona), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Thiago Silva (Paris St-Germain), Yaya Toure (Manchester City), Robin Van Persie (Manchester United), Xavi (Barcelona).
Fifa coach of the year shortlist: Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid CF), Rafael Benítez (Napoli), Antonio Conte (Juventus), Vicente Del Bosque (Spain), Sir Alex Ferguson (Manchester United's former coach), Jupp Heynckes (Bayern Munich's former coach), Jurgen Klopp (Borussia Dortmund), Jose Mourinho (Chelsea), Luiz Felipe Scolari (Brazil), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal).
Source: Daily Graphic
| Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. |
