ZURICH, Switzerland — Six members of the Germany squad that won the 2014 FIFA World Cup were included among the nominees for the 2014 FIFA Ballon d’Or award Tuesday, joining Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar on the 23-man short list.
Mario Goetze, who scored the winning goal against Argentina in the World Cup final, was selected along with Germany teammates Toni Kroos, Philipp Lahm, Thomas Mueller, Manuel Neuer, and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Uruguay forward Luis Suarez was left out following his biting ban.
Suarez was the top scorer in the English Premier League last season with 31 goals in 33 appearances for Liverpool. But his reputation took a hit when he was banned for four months for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in the World Cup group phase.
Messi won the first three years the FIFA and France Football merged their international player of the year awards, while Ronaldo took the honor last year.
The lists were selected by FIFA’s football committee and France Football, and FIFA’s women’s football committee helped select the coaches list.
The final decisions will be made by the captains and head coaches of national teams and international media representatives selected by France Football.
The three finalists with the most votes for each award will be announced Dec. 1 and the winners will be revealed Jan. 12.
Photo by Facebook/FIFA Ballon d’Or
Thumbnail photo by Steffen Schmidt/Keystone/The Associated Press
