Ronaldo Shortlisted for Ballon D'Or

Cristiano Ronaldo is amongst those short-listed for the prestigious Ballon D'Or award, recognising the greatest Player in the World.

Ronaldo has already won the accolade (in 2008) but finished as runner-up behind Lionel Messi last time around. Messi is again the main competition, though the dark horse to win is Wesley Sneijder, who won the Champions League, and then orchestrated his Dutch team through to the World Cup Final in the summer.

Ballon d’Or nominees

Xabi Alonso (Spain), Daniel Alves (Brazil), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Julio Cesar (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Maicon (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Mesut Ozil (Germany), Carles Puyol (Spain), Arjen Robben (Holland), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Holland), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain)