(Reuters) – Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo were named on the shortlist for FIFA’s Ballon d’Or award yesterday at a news conference in Brazil.
Argentine Messi has won the award, formerly known as World Player of the Year, for the past three years and is favourite again after more goal-scoring exploits.
Messi and the equally prolific Ronaldo often divide opinion over who is the superior player and this year has been no different as they appear to push each other to even greater heights on a weekly basis. Ronaldo’s manager at Real Madrid, Jose Mourinho, recently said it would be a crime if his player did not win the Ballon d’Or for a second time, after comments from Barcelona’s coach Tito Vilanova describing Messi as the “greatest player in the world, by a long way”.
“If Messi is the best on the planet, Ronaldo is the best in the universe. It would be a crime if Ronaldo did not win the Ballon d’Or,” Mourinho said in October, shortly after the Portugal international became the first player to score in six consecutive ‘Clasicos.’
